Grimmlocke
by thrillerartist
Summary: The village of Sternlite is being tormeted by a species of venemous Grimm that the villagers call "The Brutus". Team RWBY reponds to the call for help, only to be met with a foe they've never faced...and one that they can't fight at all.
1. Chapter 1

**Grimmlock**

 **By: thrillerartist**

 **NOTE: I DO NOT OWN _RWBY_! _RWBY_ belongs to RoosterTeeth!**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Field Study**

 _There are some stories in the lives of hunters and huntresses that will never be heard. But if you are here, that means you have heard of what happened in the forest of Sternlite..._

 _That was one of the hardest things that has ever happened in my life. It was the hardest choice I have ever had to make: to let live, or die._

 _For all its tragedy, it is a story I think I am the best one to tell._

* * *

 _ **15 Years ago...**_

Franklin Stein had left Atlas a many years after he'd graduated from Atlas Academy. He was the third in his class, specializing in both in sword skills and hand-to-hand combat. Trained to kill, but also gifted in the use of field medicine, he wanted to use his talents to save people from the Grimm. A few years after his graduation, he'd returned to his alma mater to teach hunting tactics and Grimm studies. Atlas Academy, his old school, was also the place where he re-connected with his teenage-sweetheart. Alice Locke, a huntress who was just as talented in archery as she was beautiful; he honestly did not know what she saw in him. He, who spent most of his days nosing through textbooks in the library or training at the gym, had caught the eye of the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

She was stubborn, headstrong, and clever enough to be able to think on her feat, even when under duress. She was a master of archery, able to hit any tarket within her range. Her olive complexion and lethe figure, her beautiful blue eyes and luscious brown hair rivaled Franklin's appearance in every way. He, who had developed muscles from years of fighting were obscured by how tall he was, almost six-and-a-half feet. His wire-like maroon hair stuck out at all angles, no matter how hard he tried to tame it. His face was (potentially) handsome, but was still being obscured by the awkwardness of adolescence. When in battle, he thought things through all the way, and his teachers admired that he could do so during a fight. Though he was a skilled fighter, he enjoyed the science of Grimm just as much, and spent many hours into the night studying scientific journals.

He was her opposite in every way, and yet...yet she still fell for him, and he for her.

Love is odd.

They had started their relationship the year before their graduation. Once they had become full hunters, they had agreed to part, albeit heart-wrenching and tearful.

Then, when he had started his teaching position, she had come into his life again. They had picked up their relationship where they had left off, it seemed, and were married a few months after. Alice Stein, he thought, had a beautiful ring to it.

Teaching had been their shared passion, but occasionally, they would go into the wild and perform biological or observational studies on the Grimm in the area. Together, he and his wife were able to study the behaviors of Grimm, and taught their findings to the hunters and huntresses that came after them anticipate a Grimm's attack.

A few months after they had married, Alice told her husband that there would be a new addition to their small family. Franklin was overjoyed! Alice was pregnant with their first child! Nine months later, Franklin and Alice's daughter was born.

They named her Victoria.

Though it was against Franklin's wishes, Alice accompanied him on an observational study of a pack of Boarbatusks in a nearby village a few weeks after their daughter was born. These Grimm were said to be as old as the elders of the village, and were not aggressive towards the humans living nearby. There would be no immediate danger.

Or at least, that is what they thought.

But something had gone wrong. A villager who fancied himself a trained hunter after only killing a few low-level Grimm, attacked the hoard of Boarbasusks like a barbarian. Alice and Franklin jumped in after they saw what the oaf was doing. The herd was powerful, and they were easily overwhelmed. Franklin's semblance, incredible strength, was used to cut down the Boarbatusks as they came. Alice, her semblance being the ability to teleport, grabbed the man, and brought him to the branches of a tree. Ordering him to stay on the branch and off the ground, she quickly teleported back to the fight to aid her husband.

Only, when she saw him, did things go wrong. The Alpha Boarbatusk was pawing the ground with its hoof, and at the angle it was standing, Alice deduced that it was targeting her husband!

Alice teleported directly in its path as it charged, notching an arrow to its heart. She pulled back the bowstring, and let loose the arrow, watching as it lodged itself in the Grimm's fragile skin just above its underbelly.

But not before the beast lodged its tusk through Alice.

Alice died right on the forest floor, in her husband's arms, and miles away from her newborn daughter.

She left Franklin's heart shattered to pieces, and overtaken with grief.

And we all know that grief makes people to things they would never normally do.

Franklin's life changed. Grief warped him into a shell of the man he once was. He spent those first few months caring for his infant daughter, and lamenting on what he could have done differently. What he could have done, what he could have changed, so that his wife did not have to die. He was angry at the villager who charged the Grimm. He was angry at himself for not seeing the Alpha charge. He was angry at his wife, who had once again not thought things through. He quit his job at the academy, and spent his days caring for his daughter. Eventually, he became a part-time hunter to pay his bills, but spent most of his time studying Grimm textbooks and scientific journals.

At last, he had found his new purpose: To create a weapon that would target and kill the Grimm, so that there would be no more need for hunters to risk their lives.

He desired to create a weapon that could hunt like a Grimm, think like a Grimm, but would be a loyal asset to a hunter or huntress. If he could study the Grimm up close and personal, he could figure out their biology, what makes up their creation on a chemical and cellular level, study their behaviors. And if he could recreate that into a form of Grimm that could be controlled, there would be no more need for huntsmen.

No one would have risk dying from hunting the Grimm, because his Grimm would do the hunting for them.

In Atlas, the hub of technological and scientific advancements in all of Remnant, his idea was not accepted. It was called an "abomination". It was called "unnatural".

He was called "insane", and "cowardly".

It was the same reason he decided to leave Atlas. His friends from the academy, his colleagues, no one accepted his idea as science. Even the generals of the Atlas military were not willing to endorse his experiments. So, three years after his wife was killed, he packed up everything he could carry, put his daughter in a caravan drawn by a horse, and left the only home he'd ever known. As he crossed the border of his kingdom, he did not think of the friends and family he was leaving behind. All he saw ahead of him was the discovery that was awaiting him...and of the revenge he aspired to enact.

He would succeed in creating a Grimm that could be controlled by a huntsman. A Grimm that could adapt to any situation, and hunt its own kind on order. A Grimm that knew the meaning of loyalty, and was willing to die for its master.

He would study the Grimm, perform his experiments, and not come back to his home until he had succeeded in perfecting his creation. Once everyone who scoffed him saw the very thing they denied could ever exist, once everyone saw how wrong they were for calling him a fool, they would gladly accept him back into their good graces.

But for now, he needed the perfect specimens to study, and the perfect place to call his research center. He'd heard that there was a village that was bering ravaged by hordes of Grimm, on the north side of the Emerald Forest in Vale. It was a long journey, and would take him months to get there.

But it would be worth it in the end. Success was the best form of revenge, after all.

Or at least, that's what he believed.

* * *

 _ **Present Day...**_

 **-Yang-**

Four girls stood before him, each dressed in their combat attire. Their leader, dressed in her favorite red hood, stood excitedly in front of the grand wooded desk, where their headmaster was sitting.

"Your work saving Vale from the Grimm attack has not gone unnoticed." The gray-haired man said, pausing to take a sip of his ever-present coffee. "Though your abilities do still have room for improvement, I don't think that you are incapable of handling dire situations on your own. But, seeing as you are still first-year students, I cannot put you on the battlefield quite yet."

Ozpin sets his mug down, and grabs his cane with his right hand. He stood, and turned to the window for a moment, gazing thoughtfully at the city below.

"There has been a request for the assistance of skilled hunters." Ozpin finally said. "On the farthest side of the Emerald Forest, there is a small village in dire need. With most of the experienced hunters and huntresses in Vale off on missions, I am choosing to send you."

"Not to sound ungrateful, professor." Blake said, carefully. "But why are you sending us? Why not the third or fourth year students?"

Ozin turned back to his desk, grabbed his cup of coffee, and took a long, contemplative sip. "I have chosen you for this," He started, "because you are exactly the type of students this school hopes to create. Smart, skilled, but most of all, determined. I sense something dark is looming on the horizon. If this is indeed true, I need to know that the students from this academy will be ready when that time comes."

Ruby's smile fell, her becoming serious. "We understand, professor." She said finally. "What's the mission?"

Professor Ozpin, for all his talk just a few moments ago, kept silent. As he looked over the four girls before him, he once again saw how young they truly were.

 _Has it really come to this,_ he thought, _that I must resort to sending children into battle before their time?_

And, as if she had heard his thoughts, Ruby Rose, the youngest student at Beacon Academy, said, "My team and I are ready for anything, Professor."

Ozpin, slightly taken aback by the young girl's words, nodded in understanding. He set down his mug, and began the mission debrief.

"The village that requested your assistance on this matter is called Sternlite." Ozpin reported. "It is rather small, barely developed, and is currently being overrun with a...rather unnatural Grimm."

Weiss's eyebrows raised slightly, and she asked, "How can a Grimm be unnatural?"

"The villagers claim that this species of Grimm wasn't born from darkness." Ozpin said without missing a beat. "Rather, it was _created_ by someone who used to reside in the village."

Shocked silence filled the room, as each girl stared at the wisened headmaster, trying to see if he was kidding.

But Ozpin wasn't one to kid.

"Why would someone, in their right mind, _create_ a Grimm?" Weiss asked.

"I think the key words there, Weiss are 'right' and 'mind'" Yang replied sarcastically. "Which, they clearly weren't."

Before her sister and partner's antics could get any further, Ruby asked Professor Ozpin, "Is there any more information on what exactly we're dealing with?"

Ozpin merely sighed. "That is the one thing I do not know, Ms. Rose. The villagers wouldn't say anything more on the matter, and insisted that I send huntsmen to their aid, no matter their skill. I was, however, able to confer with the village's resident huntress. She's waiting for your arrival, and will escort you to the area of the forest in which the Grimm resides. An airship will take you to the mountains of the Emerald Forest today, to a village called Sternlite. A huntress named Victoria will meet you at the gates of her village. After that, your first mission officially begins."

* * *

The airship landed in a small clearing. As team RWBY stepped out of the ship, they could not help but cringe a little as the chilly air bit at their faces. The village where they were sent was located up in the mountains, hours from the nearest town. Team RWBY stood in the clearing, and watched as the airship that brought them there took off for the trip back to Beacon.

Up ahead, at the very end of the clearing, stood a tall wooden gate, where a lone figure stood.

"That must be the village." Blake said.

"Alright, Team RWBY!" Ruby said excitedly, pointing towards the gate. "Let our first mission begin!" Just as the words left her mouth, Ruby turned into a whirlwind of roses, and ran ahead of the rest of her team

"Dolt!" Weiss shouted after her partner. "You can't just-"

"Just drop it, Princess." Yang responded teasingly. "She's just excited. Heck, I am too! This is our first mission without having a teacher breathing down out necks. You gotta admit, it's exciting."

"But it _is_ still a mission." Blake said seriously. "We shouldn't forget that the dangers are real." She turned her gaze back towards the village gates. "And this time," Blake continued solemnly, "we're on our own."

Having run after their leader, the three remaining girls reached the entrance of the gates, allowing them to get a closer look at the figure that stood there.

She looked about eighteen years old, and was about average height, with a build that told them this huntress was trained for speed and agility. Her hair was as dark as chocolate, and as wild and unruly as Yang's. Her face would have been flawlessly beautiful, were it not for the leather eyepatch and scars that obscured most of the right half of her face. One could see freckles dotted across her nose, and her one remaining eye was a shade of emerald green. She was dressed in a long-sleeve olive green shirt, black pants and leather boots. A leather armored breastplate was strapped to her chest, and a wrist guard was wrapped around her right forearm. A bow and quiver was slung over one side her shoulder, and a sheathed dagger was strapped to her leather belt.

"You must be the team from Beacon." The girl said. " I was expecting you for some time."

"Guys, she's so cool!" Ruby gushed, looking at the girl with pride. "She says she was trained by an Atlesian hunter!"

"Is that so?" Weiss said skeptically. "So, you never had any formal hunting training?"

The huntress fixed Weiss with a stern, one-eyed glare. "If it concerns you so," she said in a serious voice, "I was trained by my father, who graduated third in his class from Atlas Academy."

"That doesn't answer my question." Weiss responded skeptically.

"Regardless of where I got my training, I _am_ the huntress that sent for you." Victoria continued, completely ignoring Weiss's last comment. The girl bowed at her waist, putting her right fist over her heart. "I am Victoria Stein."

"Does your weapon turn into anything else?" Ruby asked, eyes glimmering in wonder.

Vicotoria righted herself before she fixed the rest of team RWBY with a blank look. "This one is your leader, yes?" Victoria asked.

"Yep."

"Yes."

"Correct."

Victoria sighed, and said "I suppose you all with suffice.", before turning to walk through the gates of Sternlite. "Follow me." Victoria called back to team RWBY. "There is something you need to see before we begin our mission."

* * *

Walking into the village was a chance to witness humanity in its rawest form. Instead of the crowded streets, tall skyscrapers, and bustling shops the girls had gotten so used to back in Vale, small log houses lined a dirt path that led to a main cabin at the center of the village. Victoria led them down the dirt path, but team RWBY could not help but notice that there were barely any people in the streets. Stalls that were obviously for a small market were empty, except for a man selling herbs and charms. He watched them as they passed by, and he gazed upon the girls with a look of both fear and of relief. Then he started mumbling something so soft that the girls could barely hear the words.

Ruby looked at the houses that were spread out along the road, and noticed the small faces of children that peered out from behind curtains and cracks in the doors.

"Why is the village so empty?" Ruby asked.

Victoria briefly glanced back at Ruby, looking serious. "You'll soon find out." Was all she said.

She led them to the cabin at the center of the village, which was long and L-shaped. She opened the grand wooden door, and beckoned team RWBY to follow her. Inside, they were shocked at the sight before them.

Children and teenagers, and a few adults, were laid out on several cots. Other villagers, healers, most likely, were tending to their bedsides.

Blake's stomach dropped when she saw a small deer Faunus girl, her horns still coming in, shivering under layers of blankets. She walked forward, and knelt down to her side. She couldn't have been any more than six years old. Her tiny face was beaded with sweat, her skin was pale and clammy. In her sleep, the girl kept mumbling, "Mommy...Daddy."

Weiss noticed that some of the healers, who were older men and women, tending to wounds, refreshing bandages and cleaning the faces of the ill. There didn't appear to be any medicine being used other than cold clothes, clean bandages, and teas that healers were waking sleeping patients and forcing them to drink.

Yang couldn't help but feel a little bit of her heart bleed when she saw a pair of girls in the corner of the room. One of them-the older of the pair-was kneeling next to the cot, gripping the smaller girl's hand in a vice grip. The poor girl in the bed was pale, and sweating profusely. Her lips were beginning to turn a thin shade of blue, and black and purple veins were snaking their way across her face, beginning at around her chin. When Yang looked at Victoria, she saw that her one green eye was lingering on the set of girls. In Victoria's eye, Yang saw determination and...sadness?

A cluster of about six adults-the only adults-caught Ruby's eye. She walked towards them, and upon closer examination could see that they most likely the parents of the children in the room. Some bore a striking resemblance to the younglings lying in the cots, and sported seeping wounds, evidence that they got this way from defending their children from the Grimm. Two men and a woman were splayed out on floor mats. One of them was still awake, and was currently staring at the woman on the mat next to him. She was the worse off out of everyone in the cabin, Ruby thought. Her left arm was bandaged all the way from her forearm to her shoulder. Her face was pale, and beads of sweat crowned her forehead. Her breathing was labored, and purple and black veins were snaking their way up from under her bandages.

Victoria appeared by Ruby's side, and knelt down to examine the woman. She forced one of the woman's eye open with her fingers, exposing a yellowed iris. Victoria sighed deeply, sadly, before she turned and began walking out of the cabin. Ruby ran after Victoria, with Weiss, Blake, and Yang trailing behind her.

Outside, Victoria was hunched over underneath a tall oak tree. Her fist was clenched so hard that her knuckles turned white, then red from where it was scraping against the rough bark. The girls approached her, and couldn't help but notice how the young girl was breathing deep in order to keep control of herself. They stood there, under the tree, in silence for a few moments before Ruby dared voice the question that was on her team's mind.

"What happened to them?" Ruby asked, concerned for the people in the cabin.

Victoria quickly regained her composure, staring at Ruby with her one good eye full of seriousness. "They were attacked by a Grimm in this area." Victoria said.

Blake spoke up. "What _exactly_ happened to them?"

Victoria sighed, and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Our village is made up of farmers. A few days ago, a few of the families that farm together were attacked by a species of Grimm that live only in this area of the Emerald Forest. We call it the Brutus. It normally doesn't hunt during the day, which is why the villagers were caught so off guard."

"It just...attacked?" Blake asked.

"Completely unprovoked, and the villagers assure me that there was no negative energy in the area to attract it. It just target these people, and nearly killed them." Victoria regained a solemn expression. "Though, I'm afraid that the ones who survived the attack may not live much longer."

"What's wrong with them?"

Victoria looked around, and noticed that they had begun to draw notice from the villagers.

"Perhaps we should discuss this more over some tea." She said, walking down the road. Team RWBY followed her all the way to a small hut made of wood. Inside, there was sparse decoration. A sleeping mat and pillow sat in one corner, awaiting its owner to return. There was a small fire pit in the center of the hut, which had a tripod fit with a tea kettle hanging over the flames. "Please, sit." Victoria said, gesturing to a kneeling table next to the fire. TEam RWBY, not wanting to offend the serious girl, obliged. Victoria went to a small cupboard in the far corner of the one room, and grabbed five wooden cups, setting them down in front of each girl.

"You are free to ask me your questions." Victoria said seriously.

"Let's start with, what in Hell's name is going on here?!" Yang said, but not at all in a joking manor. All Yang could see when she closed her eyes were the two little girls in the cabin, one in the bed, and the other in tears. It reminded Yang too much of her and Ruby when they were little. "What does everyone mean when they say that this Grimm attacking your village was _created_?" Yang asked, demanding a straight answer.

Vicotoria grabbed the kettle from the fire with a dry cloth, and began pouring the tea. "The Grimm is a hybrid species that was created by a man who used to live here." Victoria said, having finished pouring the tea, and grabbing her own cup. "He was a hunter, actually, as well as a scientist. He wanted to create a Grimm that has all the instincts of one, but would be eternally loyal to a master."

"But, that's impossible." Weiss said in disbelief, hands wrapped around her cup.

Victoria fixed her with a one-eyed look of neutrality. "Which is why it failed so horribly.", Victoria said as she took another sip of her tea, chewing thoughtfully on a loose tea leaf. "He wanted to create the perfect weapon against the Grimm that were ravaging our village. He was a healer in our town, but he was a hunting teacher in Atlas, specializing in Grimm studies. He fused a wolf he found in the woods with a sample from the pools of Grimm, to create a creature with the power of a Grimm, but also the loyalty of a pet. The creature he made was designed to be living weapons that would hunt other Grimm so that humans and Faunus would not. His original intent was to save lives. What he really ended up doing was costing more."

"He had fused a sample from the Pools of Grimm with his pet wolf. The end result was a dog-like Grimm that had the instincts of a wolf, but the powers of a Grimm. As soon as it was created, its Grimm instincts overtook the animal, and made it into what it is today. It fled the village, returning only to kill livestock or some of the villagers. Since then, the hunter who created it spent the rest of his life trying to fix his mistake. He named the Grimm The Brutus, because it betrayed his original intentions."

"What happened to him?" Ruby asked. "The man who created this Grimm."

Victoria set down her cup, leaving her hand on the small table. "In short," she said carefully, "his creature killed him."

"Care to elaborate on that?" Weiss asked bluntly.

"No." Victoria deadpanned, letting everyone know that it was a subject that she did not wish to discuss.

"So that's what's making the villagers so sick?" Yang asked, having not touched her tea.

Victoria nodded, "The Brutus has a venom that coats its talons. If the victim is so much as grazed, they are on limited time. The venom works in three stages." Victoria paused to take a sip from her tea, barely phased by the heat of it.

"The first stage, the victim will show flu-like symptoms: fever, weakness, nausea, dizziness, as the venom weakens the immune system. The second stage, the victim's veins around the injection site will begin to turn shades of purple, almost like bruises. This signifies that the venom is spreading to the rest of the body. Hallucinations, restless dreams and psychotic episodes can also occur, as the fever can sometimes affect brain function. The third and final stage is the deadliest. The victim's eyes will first turn yellow, signifying the venom has reached the brain. Then the organs will begin shutting down, eventually stopping the heart. It is a frightening and painful death, and everyone in that building is dying of the same venom, some already in the third stage."

"That woman." Ruby added. "You said-"

"Once the venom reaches the central nervous system, there is nothing more we can do except keep them comfortable." Victoria said sadly.

"So...you need us to kill this thing, is that it?" Yang asks.

"Again, no."

"So why are we here?" Yang asked, patience wearing thin.

"Yang, just listed to her." Blake said, silencing her partner.

"I have called you here," Victoria continued, "because I am in need of your assistance to collect the ingredients to make the antiserum that will cure the villagers who are not in the third stage of the venom. One is rare herb that only grows at the center of the forest. It is called Grimmlocke, and it has medicinal properties that can counteract the spread of the venom. However, there is one drawback: it only grows for one week every five years, and what little supply we had from the last harvest five years ago was used up after the latest attack. Luckily for us, the next crop is blooming this week, and only this week."

"What's the second ingredient?" Ruby asked.

"The second ingredient is..." Victoria took a deep breath, "is venom from the claws of the Brutus." At the emanation of the words, Victoria could practically taste the shock in the room.

"So," Yang said, breaking the silence in the room, "you need our help in gathering a rare herb that only grows every five years, and venom from a man-made Grimm that could kill us with one scratch. Is that all?"

"Yes." Victoria says. "The task I ask of you is very dangerous, and it is very possible that you could die. If there is a time you wish to turn back, now is that time. If you agree, we will be going into the forest shortly."

Yang, for all her excitement at going on a mission without a teacher to hound them, looked around at her team, her eyes lingering a second longer on Ruby. She cared about her teammates, but her main priority was Ruby, always. For a brief moment, she wanted to grab Ruby and take her away from this place, to keep her safe. But what she wanted was not what Ruby would. And when Yang saw Ruby, she saw seriousness in her silver eyes. Yang knew that Ruby knew the risks involved in taking this mission, she knew that Ruby could handle herself in any situation, but that didn't stop her heart from fluttering in worry.

Ruby kept her face stoic for a few more moments before shooting Victoria with a toothy grin, and a thumbs up. "You can count on us!" Ruby declared. "Team RWBY has got your back!"

* * *

"Before we begin, there are some things you must know about the Brutus' hunting habits." Victoria says, looking at each member of the team as she stood at the front of the village gates. "The Brutus is part wolf, so it has some of the wolf's hunting tactics. It moves incredibly fast, and likes to stick close to the shadows, away from any light. Its fur is hard as steel, but it mouth and eyes are its weak spots. They are the only soft points on the creature.

"The Brutus also has a very acute sense of smell and hearing, so keep as quiet as you can, and don't bring anything scented with you on the hunt."

"Ouch, Weiss," Yang smarts, "why do I get the feeling that last one was directed at you?"

"Shut up, Oaf!" Weiss snaps back at the blonde, while Yang smiled coyly.

Victoria snapped her fingers at the two like she was trying to get the attention of a couple kids. "Second," she continued in a serious voice, her one good eye directed at Yang, " _never_ turn your back on the Brutus. It will take that as a sign of vulnerability, and it _will_ attack to kill if given the opportunity. Third..." Victoria tapered off, her eye landing on Ruby, softening a little at the sight of the young girl. "Third," Victoria regained her composure, "be on your guard. The Brutus mainly attacks prey it sees as vulnerable, which unfortunately, tend to be those who are young, old, sick, or injured. Ruby, you especially need to be on guard."

Ruby nodded grimly, all her swagger from before gone. Once again, her age was something that set her apart from the others, but this time, it was in the worst possible way.

Yang, sensing somethign derogatory being said against her sister, immediately jumped in to her defense. "Hey, listen, Rubes may be the youngest out of all of us, but in no way is she the weakest!"

"That's right!" Weiss added in, despite her argument with Yang a few moments before. "Ruby is just as capable as any of us are."

Victoria pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "The Brutus does not _care_ about a person's skill!" She said firmly. "Nor does it care about leadership, or family background, or past history. It is a Grimm, just like any other Grimm you have fought. It relies on its monstrous instincts, and wants only to destroy everything in its path, and if you are in front of it when it does so, you cannot call yourself a capable hunter or huntress." That statement, for the most part, sent a wave of reality over the team, who had never been completely on their own during a mission before. For a while, they just stood there, team RWBY facing Victoria, neither moving nor speaking. Vicotira stared at the team before her with great intent, almost daring them to turn around and run back to Beacon.

However, Ruby's voice was the first to break the long silence. "We understand what you're asking of us", she said gently. "And we understand the risks involved. But my team is ready, and we will not let you down."

Victoria, once again, stared at the small girl, hiding her amazement behind a mask of neutrality. _How can so much bravery exist in a body so young?,_ she thought. "Very well." Victoria said finally, nodding towards the team before turning towards the forest. "Let us embark."

* * *

The team passed through the mountainous terrain at a moderate pace, keeping themselves as quiet as they could so not to draw the attention of the surrounding beasts in the area. Victoria led the group, since she was the one who knew the area better than some of the villagers. As Ruby looked around her, she could not help but notice how beautiful the land was. Giant trees made a canopy of luscious green above them, and in some parts you could barely see the sky above. The forest floor was specked with patches of green grass, but mostly it was covered with dried leaves and rocks. The terrain itself was rocky in some areas, but for the most part, it was not a difficult hike.

"So, what exactly are we looking for, again?" Yang asked Victoria.

"We are searching for the Brutus. In order to make the anti-serum, we need to milk the venom from the Grimm itself, before journeying up the mountain to harvest the Grimmlocke plant. Once we have both, we can create an anti-venom before combining it with sap from the Grimmlocke, thus making the antiserum."

"It's interesting" Blake said from beside Yang, "how the very thing that caused all the pain for your village, is the same thing that can save it."

Victoria's eye wandered off towards the forest. "Interesting indeed." She murmured.

All of a sudden, Blake's Faunus ears caught a sound that would have been missed by a normal human. "Stop!" she hisses, drawing her weapon, Gambol Shroud. Victoria grabs a handful of arrows from her quiver, and scans the trees with the accuracy of an archer. Her ears picked up the sound of something large barreling through the forest towards them, and her emerald eye went wide as she realized what it was. "Circle up!" she ordered Team RWBY, "keep your backs to the center, and _don't_ let yourselves get separated!"

In a flash, all five girls circled together, their backs facing the center of the circle. Each girl drew her weapon of choice, readying themselves both mentally and physically for the fight ahead.

A hoard of Beowolves came flooding from the treeline, skirting around the girls like cockroaches to a light source, before running in the opposite direction.

"Umm..." Yang blurted. "Don't those things usually, I don't know, attack everything in their sight?"

"They do." Victoria said grimly, "Unless there's something that threatens them."

As if on cue, the beast emerged from the trees. It was about the size of a truck, but had the figure of a wolf. Its hide was a prickly fur that shone like onyx in the light. Shadows seemed to be drawn to it, just as they were with regular Grimm, but they pooled around its legs, giving the beast the appearance of walking through black water. Its eyes glowed a molted red shade, radiating anger and destruction as its snarling maw opened to show off a set of razor-sharp teeth as white as snow. The Grimm's claws, however, radiated a shade of purple so deep that it almost matched the shade of the Brutus's coat.

 _This_ was the Brutus. This was the monster that was leaving hurt and sorrow and illness in its wake wherever it went.

As dangerous and deadly as it was, it truly was a sight to behold.

It stood in defiance of the girls in front of it, daring them to make the first move. All of a sudden, it barreled through the girls, sending them running as they tried to evade it's touch. The Brutus barked at them, a thundering sound, and prowled around them in a circle, anticipating their next move.

"So much for that." Blake said.

"Freezerburn!" Ruby shouted, jumping away from the battle and into the trees as Blake followed her. Victoria, not understanding what was going on, climbed up the nearest tree, and started firing her arrows, trying to land one in the Brutus's eye. But the beast was too smart, too quick, and dodged her every shot.

Meanwhile, Yang and Weiss were left on the ground. Weiss used her ice dust, and pierced the ground with the tip of her rapier, while Yang summoned her fire. She hit the sheet of ice that formed on the ground, thus creating a fog so thick Weiss could have sliced through it if she wanted to. The girls, having a suitable cover from the beast, regrouped on the ground, running circles around it in an effort to keep it disoriented. However, the Brutus still had its sense of smell, and it zeroed in on one particular prey item.

Just as Ruby was about to open her mouth to order Weiss and Blake to do their tag team, an immense claw came out from the clearing fog. Ruby put up her scythe in an effort to block the blow, and ended up catching the beast's paw on the sickle. Ruby fired her weapon, and the blowback yanked the Brutus so hard it stumbled. Seeing an opening, Yang sent a barrage of fists towards its flank in an attempt at keeping it down, but every shot she fired only ricocheted into the trees. The Brutus turned its head a full 180 degrees to try at get at the pest pounding on it, but only ended up snapping at air. Blake had used Gambol Shroud to pull Yang away from the danger of the beast's mouth.

"What do you say, Ruby." Weiss asked, spinning the revolver on her rapier. "Iceflower?"

"Iceflower!" Ruby repeated as she slammed her scythe blade into the ground, as Weiss summoned a glyph at the front of the barrel of Ruby's gun. Sensing two of its potential targets were immobile, the Brutus began to barrel towards the duo. Ruby and Weiss sent shot after shot, aiming for the Brutus' mouth and eyes, but missing due to the beast's agility. Suddenly, Ruby and Weiss were able to land a blow to its right front paw, causing it to lose its balance, and sent it crashing into the trees.

But the beast would not go down quite so easily. Angered, it climbed back onto its feat, and howled at the girls. Its animal instincts were on high alert, telling the Brutus to scan its foes for signs of weakness, but was only able to sense that one of the girls was slightly smaller than the rest.

The girls all watched as the Brutus' snout pinched in agitation before it came barreling back towards them like a runaway train (which they had all fought before). Only this time, the Brutus ran towards Weiss and Ruby

"Watch out!" Victoria yelled, notching an arrow aimed at the Brutus's left eye.

The Beast chomped its jaws at Ruby and Weiss, who were cornered by a patch of thick trees. Ruby swiped the beast's eye with her scythe, just as it brought up a paw to strike them down. Ruby was able to land a blow to the creatures eye, blinding it, as Weiss used a gravity glyph to push it away from them.

Sensing its defeat, and wounded, the Brutus ran back into the bush, almost as quick as it came.

But not before leaving a mark on one of its attackers.

Silence dominated the forest as each girl froze in their place in anticipation of the Brutus's return. But it never came back.

From her vantage point in the trees, Victoria shouted, "Is everyone alright? Is anyone hurt?"

"Nah, we're all fine." Yang said, stretching her arm. "Though, it's nice to see you have a heart under all that cold."

"Yang!" Blake snapped, glaring at her partner.

"It would be more unfortunate for _me_ if any of you were wounded." Victoria said, dropping down to the ground. "It would mean I'd have to call in help for another huntsman."

"You alright, Weiss?" Ruby asked her partner, who looked shaken up. Myrnaster trembled in Weiss grip, something that rarely ever happened to the headstrong girl.

"I'm fine, Ruby." Weiss replied, her face contorting into her usual mask of stoicism. "But...thank you, for asking."

Victoria turned her gaze to the sky, holding up her hand to shield her eye from the light of the setting sun.

"Night is coming", she said, addressing the members of team RWBY. "We should head back to Sternlite and form a strategy, now that you know what we are up against."

"Wouldn't it make more sense to make camp in the forest?" Blake asked. "If you're pressed for time, we could save the energy of walking back to the-"

"Too many have died from spending the night in the forest." Victoria said slowly. "The Brutus is most active at night, thought it is rarely seen in the day. You can take every precaution and still end up dead by morning. No, we go back to the village, get proper rest and sustenance, and form a plan now that we all know what we are up against."

Shouldering her bow, Victoria turned, and started walking back towards her village, not bothering to stop and see if the members of team RWBY were following her.

* * *

 _I keep going over things in my head, wondering if that first day could have gone differently. Had I been honest up front about what was going to happen to me, about who that scientist was, would things still have turned out the same. Maybe, but I don't regret the choices I made at the time, because I believed them to be the right ones. I tried to be the best huntress I believed I could be, and that's all that mattered in the end, I think._

 _When there is nothing else left to do in a bad situation, all one can hope to do is try and make it better._

 _That is what I believed then, and it is what I believe now._

 _However...had I stopped to notice that small little tear in Ruby's shirtsleeve, I think things would have gone differently. I would have saved her, her friends, and her sister a lot of heartache and pain._

 _Things would have gone differently, but still have yielded the same result in the end._

 **To be continued...**

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **I'm a huge fan of the _RWBY_ series, and I've been stewing this idea in my mind for quite some time. As a kid, I was really interested in shows about venomous creatures, especially snakes. I know that the science in this story might not be that accurate, but I figured in a world like _RWBY_ 's, anything is possible.**

 **The backgroud inspiration for this story is Mary Shelly's "Frankenstien". It's always been one of the most intruiging stories to me, and was a big influence on my writing this story. I wanted the character of Dr. Frankenstein to be portrayed in two aspects: Dr. Frankenstein as a child (Victoria) and Dr. Frankenstein as an adult (Franklin). While Victoria is serious and wants nothing more than to saver her village from the Brutus, Franklin's motivations for creating the Brutus are more selfish and ambitious. This conincides with the idea of young and adult Frankenstein, since Dr. Frankenstein in his youth wanted to merely be a scientist that helped the world, but Dr. Frankenstain in his adulthood is more ambitious with his desire to create life from death.**

 **I've been working on the background of this story for a long time, and I hope that you guys like it! Feel free to post reviews or comments, because they're much appreciated!**

 **Until Next Time!**

 **-Thrillerartist**


	2. Chapter 2

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I DO NOT OWN** ** _RWBY_** **!**

 **Chapter 2: Denial and Discovery**

* * *

 _The way the venom of the Brutus works is very different than normal animals. Venom normally does not affect a person unless it is injected_ _directly i_ _nto the blood_ _stream. If a pool of it merely sat atop a person's skin, there would be no envenomation, no reaction. One could wipe it away as if it were mud or wet paint._

 _But the Brutus venom works very differently. If someone were to get so much as a tiny scratch from the Brutus, even if were enough to barely break the skin, there would be a drastic reaction. The venom would crawl its way into their bloodstream by seeping into the skin. Whereas there is an almost instantaneous reaction from a person who gained a deep scratch from the Brutus-full envenomation-a person who is lightly scratched would not begin showing symptoms until a few hours later, a day at most._

 _And if not caught soon enough, it might be too late to save the victim..._

 _There is a reason people like that have been called "The Walking Dead"._

* * *

 **-Weiss-**

Sleepless dreams were not unusual for Weiss to have. She would often drift off to sleep, and dream of nothing but darkness. Then there were the nights where bitter memories plagued her mind. Memories of a lonely childhood, of singing being her only escape. Of her first fencing lesson, and training with her older sister. Of the awakening of her bloodline semblance.

But tonight, darkness was all that welcomed her in her sleep, which she was thankful for. Darkness, sometimes, was peaceful. Weiss could merely close her eyes and let her subconscious sink into nothingess. She was rudely awakened by rough hand shaking her shoulder. Weiss groggily opened her eyes, only to see a girl in an eyepatch staring down at her. It took a few moments for her tired mind to erase of confusion, and remember the events that had led to her sleeping on the hardwood floor of a hut in the middle of nowhere.

"Please wake up the others." Victoria told Weiss."It is sunrise."

Groaning under her breath, Weiss rolled out of her sleeping bag to collect her supplies.

The previous night, the five girls had planned on setting out into the forest after sunrise, planning on returning to the village before dusk so that they did not end up there at night. Victoria had kept the girls up into the late hours of the night, planning hunting formations and ingraining the Brutus's hunting habits into thier heads.

The venom glands were contained in the Brutus's talons, Victoria had said. In order to get the venom, they needed to contain the Brutus in some way, and gently milk the venom from its claws before they killed it. Victoria and Ruby had devised a plan together to immobollize the Brutus. Weiss would use her gravity glyphs to slow down the Brutus, and hopefully keep it in place long enough for Ruby to distract it with a barrage of shots from Crescent Rose, while Blake and Yang used Gambol shroud to hog tie its massive paws. Then, once the beast was confined, Victoria would swoop in and milk its talons before delivering a finishing blow to its eyes, which were one of its only weak spots.

The other ingredient for the antivenom, the Grimmlocke plant, grew at the top of Mount Luar, which was a half a day's hike from Sternlite. They would not actively seek out the Brutus, Victoria informed them, because the Brutus would most likely hunt them down in order to fulfill its predatory needs. It was decided by Victoria that they would hike to Mount Luar the next morning, and if they came across the Brutus, would immobolize it and milk its venom before killing it. Then they would continue on to Mount Luar to collect the Grimmlocke.

All of this information was flooding back into Weiss's head as she rolled up her sleeping mat that Victoria had provided the night before.

"Ruby." Weiss said, nudging her partner with her boot. "Ruby, it's sunrise. Get up."

Ruby groaned in response, and rolled over on her side, trying to ignore the person who was trying to disturb her sleep.

Weiss's jaw clenched in annoyance. "Ruby." She repeated. "Get up, or I'll cover Crescent Rose with ice dust."

"YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING!" Ruby shouted, sitting up with a start. Weiss internally laughed at her partner's obsession with her hand-made weapon, and threw her a knapsack they each had brought with them from Beacon.

Weiss turned, and was faced with the sight of Blake, who was already awake and rolling up her sleeping mat.

"I can wake Yang, Weiss." Blake said, kneeling down beside her partner, whom was so sprawled out that only half of her body was still on her sleeping mat.

"Yang," Blake said in a monotone voice, "if you don't get up right now, I'll cut your hair with Gambol Shroud."

"YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING!" Yang shouted, waking up immediately into a sitting position. Blake merely stood and half-smiled at her partner's irrational fear of getting her hair cut as she shouldered her backpack. "Victoria says it's time to go." Blake said as she tossed Yang her own bag. "Get ready."

"You know, you could have woken me up in a much less cruel way." Yang grumbled. Blake snorted.

"Please," Blake said wryly, "You sleep like the dead at the least."

"While this is very entertaining to watch," Victoria's voice said from the entrance to the cabin, "we're burning daylight." The four girls of Team RWBY turned towards the door of the small house, and saw Victoria standing in the entrance with her combat gear and travel pack, bow and quiver slung over her shoulder. Her arms were crossed, and Blake thought that she looked a lot like one of the combat trainers at Beacon, despite how young she looked.

"What are you staring at?" Victoria snapped in annoyance. "Get moving. The sooner we get to the mountain, the sooner we can get the things we need to find the cure." Then she turned and briskly walked out of the cabin.

"Geeze," Yang mumbled, yawning as she shouldered her pack. "She's certainly all business." Yang looked over at Blake. "Remind you of anyone?"

"Weiss?" Blake replied. Yang snorted and shook her head. "Nope." She said. "You."

* * *

 **-Blake-**

The hike through the forest was silent and eerie. Each girl had their weapon in hand, with thier ears tuned to the sounds of their surroundings. Each of their backs were arched in tension, as if they were expecting an attack at any moment...which they were. The events from yesterday had shaken them all to the bone.

Never before had Blake, Yang, Ruby, or Weiss seen anything like they had yesterday. Blake still couldn't get the terrifying sight of the creature out of her head.

With each step foreward, Victoria brought them closer and closer to Mount Lunar, which was only about three miles from the village. The mountain, Victoria explained, was more like a ginormous, rocky hill. It wasn't rugged enough that they would need to climb up it hand-over-hand, but it would be a rigorous hike fit with the occasional cliff-hugging walk. The base of the mountain, however, was more a gradual incline that smoothly morphed into more mountainous terrain. At the very top, it plataud, and it was there that the Grimmlocke plants grew.

When they got to the incline that started the climb up the mountain, Victoria turned to face Blake, Yang, Weiss, and Ruby. Ruby took a few more moments to stop, having not been able to shake off the stupor of sleep quite yet. Blake couldn't blame her that much. They had been up since the dawn, and were about to start a climb up a mountain they had never seen before.

 _Though, it is unusual for her to be this sluggish_ , Blake thought, glancing at Ruby.

"If the Brutus doesn't show itself on its own," Victoria said, "we'll have no choice but to hunt it down ourselves. Until then, we'll collect what we need from the mounatin, and try to make it back to the village until then. If we come across the Brutus on the way back, all the better for us." Then, the stoic girl turned back, and strated walking up the wooded trail towards the top of the mountain.

Blake was starting to see why Yang said what she said that morning.

 _Remind you of anyone?_ Yang asked.

 _Weiss?_ Blake had asked.

 _Nope. You._

Blake looked at Victoria, who was marching a few steps ahead of the rest of the group. Blake had noticed, upon closer examination, that there were slight dark circles under the girl's only visible eye. It was clear to Blake, as she was sure it was to the rest of the group, that Victoria had probably not slept the night before.

 _She probably spent the night taking care of people in the clinic,_ Blake guessed.

Neglecting yourself in pursuit of something that needed to be done was something that Blake knew all too well. She just hope that Victoria wouldn't endanger the group because of it.

 _I see what Yang meant now,_ Blake realized as she walked besdie her partner.

* * *

 **-Weiss-**

Weiss knew that Ruby was definitely _not_ alright. She had started falling behind the group midway through the hike up the mountain, and was gasping and wheezing at every step of the way now. Sweat dripped down her face, even though the way to the top of hte mountian was no more than an esperienced hiking trail.

"Hey, Rubes, ya doin' okay back there?" Yang asked as she pulled herself over a boulder that blocked the path. She'd wanted to blast it apart with Ember Cecelia, but Victoria had lectured her on how it would distrub the tranquility of the forest.

"Are you finally getting slow?" Yang teased her sister as she watched Ruby struggle to pull herself up.

"Never in your dreams!" Ruby called back, albeit forced. Weiss could hear the strain in Ruby's voice, and it made her all the more suspicious.

As they got higher up the mounatin/hill, they began to see more rugged terrain, and Ruby was lagging behind more and more, which led to Weiss slowing down so that her partner wasn't left alone. The others were further ahead of them, but still within Weiss's sights.

"Ruby," Weiss asked as she helped Ruby up and over another rock that led to the next level of the mountain, "are you sure you're really okay?"

Ruby looked at her partner in confusion. "Of course I'm okay, Weiss!" Ruby said in a cheerful tone. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Although Weiss heard the usual cheer in her partner's voice, she also picked up on how it was slightly forced."

Weiss merely sighed. "Ruby, I'm serious." She said, demanding her partner's attention. "I'm starting to get a little worried. You're much slower than usual."

Ruby took a deep breath that, to Weiss, sounded like she was struggling to do.

"You look like it's taking everything you have just to stand up." Weiss added, her concern growing. "Really, Weiss." Ruby said in that forced happy voice, "I'm fi-"

Weiss looked upon her partner in horror as Ruby collapsed to her knees, and doubled over in a coughing fit that caused her to empty her stomach of its contents. Weiss kneeled down beside Ruby, and rubbed her partner's back, the only form of comfort she knew how to give her.

"Victoria!" Weiss yelled, "Yang! Blake! Please, I need some help here!"

The sounds of shuffling and rushed footsteps were heard from above Weiss's head.

"Just hang on, Ruby." Weiss said. "Help is coming." She gripped her partner's shoulders gently, trying to sooth Ruby from the constant caughing and hacking that racked her body. Once it had ceased, Ruby took a few strained breaths, and mumbled "I...don't feel so good."

Then, the small girl's eyes rolled back into her head, and she fell backwards into Weiss's arms.

Almost as if she were summoned, Victoria had dropped down by Weiss's side, and immediately started examining Ruby. Victoria checked her pulse, and put a hand on Ruby's forehead to check her temperature. Then Vicotoria peeled one of Ruby's eyes open, but for what she was looking for, Weiss didn't know.

"How long has she been like this?" Victoria asked Weiss, fixing her with a one eyed stare. Behind Vicotira, Weiss glimpsed the forms of YAng and Blake running towards them. "Weiss!" Yang shouted. "Weiss, what happened?"

"How long has she been feeling sick?" Victoria asked Weiss again, bringing Weiss's attention back to her.

"Wait, Ruby's sick?!" Yang said, kneeling down next to her sister. "Since when?!"

"I...I don't know." Weiss stammered. "I didn't-"

"How did you not notice?!" Yang scolded, eyes turning red. "She's supposed to be your _partner_!"

"She was fine last night!" Weiss argued back. "I swear! She only started acting off this morning."

"That's not an excuse, Weiss!"

Blake attempted to get her partner to calm down. "Yang-"

"No, Blake-"

"Everyone of you needs to SHUT UP!" Victoria roared. "I can't hear myself think with everyone yelling in my ears, and your leader does _not_ seem to be enjoying all the noise!"

Indeed, when Yang and Blake turned thier eyes towards Ruby, they saw pain etchted in her feverish face. Her eyes were shut so tight that crease marks were formed in her skin.

Ynag bowed her head in shame. "What's wrong with my sister?" She asked in a quieter tone. "What..why is she..."

"That is what I am trying to find out." Victoria said sympathetically. "Please, let me do my work."

Victoria noticed how Ruby's arm was tensed up, as if she were subconsciously trying not to move it. Gently, Victoria took Ruby's arm, examining the limb, until she found a tiny tear in her sleeve, about the length of a staple. Gently, Victoria forced her fingers through the tear, where she found a raised and oozing scratch on Ruby's porcelein skin.

Victoria put Ruby's arm back down, as gently as she could, and grimly said "It was the Brutus."

Silence eneveloped the group. Not skipping a beat, Vicoria put her hand up towards the sky, spreading her fingers to determine the position of the sun, and deduce the amount of daylight they had left.

"It is midday." Victoria said finally. "If it took us this long for us to get to this high on the mountain, it will be dark again long before we get back to the village." Victoria took out a canteen of water and a roll of gauze from her bag, and began cleaning Ruby's wound. It was important to stave off infection as long as possible, as the venom would first attack the immune system.

Blake was the first to break the silence that engulfed the group. "So what do we do?" She asked, watching as Victoria continued tp clean Ruby's detrimental wound.

"We will have to spend the night in the forest." Vicotira said, not stopping as she wound the gauze around Ruby's arm.

"WHAT?!" All three of the remaining girls said at once.

Victoria calmly tied off the bandage, and raised her head to face the trio of huntresses. "I know where there's a cave in the forest." Victoria said calmly. "We can hide away in there for the night"

"You want to hide?!" Yang roared, her eyes turning a blazing red. "Let's get our there and KILL THIS DAMN THING!"

Victoria slapped Yang, who turned to look at the girl with shock. "And risk ending up like your sister?" Victoria scoffed at Yang, who supped her cheek in surprise before looking at Ruby. "I knoe I said we must not stay in the forest overnight for any reason, but...well, I think this is a good enough reason. We must get your sister to the village as soon as possible, so she can recieve proper treatment. If we hike back to the village after nightfall, we could make it back there sooner, but we would risk exposing ourselves, and possible spreading the venom faster by moving your sister. No, it would be better to hike down the mountain whiel there is still light out, and make it to the cave. We will be safe from all creatures, as well as the Brutus."

Victoria rose to her feet, and pointed to the path behind them. "There's still time for us to get to the base of the mountain before sundown." Victoria stated. "Get up. The closer we can get to the cave before nightfall, the better."

Yang picked uo her sister gently, and threw her over her shoulders in a fire-man's carry.

Then the four girls began the hike back down the mountain.

* * *

 **-Yang-**

She stood at the cavce enterance, solid as a rock, determined not to let anything in, let alone near, the place where her companions were sleeping. Like a blonde hawk, she wept her eyes across the treeline, and keened her ears to listen for any sounds of nearby Grimm, or other predators.

Victoria had ordered Yang and her friends not to light a fire, despite Ruby's constant shivering. Yang immediately wanted to argue. How would they have light? How could they look out for approaching Grimm if they were in the dark?

But when Victoria led them into the cave, they had found a soft glow coming from the inside instead of the darkness the team had been expecting. Further into the cave, tey were surprised to find that there were a few moth-eaten blankets and a few partially rusted weapons.

"My mentor and I found this cave when we were stranded in the forest after dark." Victoria had said as she lef them inside. "This cave grows bioluminescent moss, meaning there will be no need for a fire."

Yang sensed a presence behind her, and turned her torso in a sideways stance so that she could face the forest and the figure at the same time.

"Look, Blake, I'm not-" Yang sarted before realizing it wasn't her partner at hte cave mouth. Instead, it was the bossy cyclopse, Victoria.

"She's running a fever." Victoria said. "She's asking for you."

Yang immediately ducked back into the cave, returning to Ruby's side. Ruby had her cloak drawn around her, as well as a few of the mothy blankets, but it did nothing to halt the shivers that trembled through her body.

"Y-Yang?" Ruby whispered, teeth chattering in cold.

"I'm here." Yang said, sitting down beside her sister. Gently, Yang grabbed Ruby's hand, running her thumb back and forth across it. Ruby squeezed it weakely, and said "Yang...I don't feel too good."

Yang took a deep breath and sighed. "I know," she said, "but we're going to fix that. You'll be better in no time." Despite Yang's belief that they would find the cure in time to save Ruby, there was a place in Yang's heart where doubt wasn't afraid to grow.

"Yang...I-I need you to...promise something." Ruby stammered, her shivering having started up again in a new force.

"Anything." Yang said, noddin for her sister to continue.

"If...If there's only so much of the cure..." Ruby began, her labored breathing forcing her to break apart her sentences, "and if there's someone who needs it more than I do...If if comes down to me and another person who's worse..."

Yang couldn't believe the next thing her sister said.

"..give the cure to them." Ruby said.

"W-What?" Yang wanted to believe that this was nothing more than her sister's fevered rambling, but Ruby seemed coherent despite her condition.

"If there's only one vial of the cure left..." Ruby said, "and there's a person worse than me...don't give the cure to me."

Tears of frustration and heartbreak formed in Yang's lilac eyes. "Ruby, _please_ ," Yang begged, "don't make me promise that. I'll do anything for you, but not...not that. I can't let my little sister die."

Ruby smiled weakly. "We're huntresses." She said. "We made a promise...to protect...the people." Ruby's words fell off, as her body was once again racked with painful coughs and labored breaths. Soon, her grip on Yang's hand grew loose, as the poor girl sank back into sleep's embrace.

That same presence Yang had sensed earlier at the mouth of the cave returned. She looked over her shoulder, and saw Victoria looking at her and Ruby.

"You do not have to worry about doing what she asks of you." Victoria assured the blonde gently. "There will be enough of the cure for everyone, and your sister will not go untreated."

Yang had turned her eyes back towards her sister. "When we get back to the village," Yang said to Victoria, "I'm going to stay with her. I can't leave her alone, not now."

"I understand." Victoria replied, and she really sounded like she did. However, against Yang's wishes, Victoria continued to speak to her.

"Though, something tells me that you are the type of person who cannot just sit by and watch someone they love get hurt." Victoria said. "Would you not rather do everything you can to ensure you sister's survival?"

"What are you saying?" Yang snapped, turning and standing up n defiance against the girl who believed she knew so much.

"You are free to stay in the village and be by your sister's side." Victoria repeated. "However, you must know that there is not much that can be done for her without the cure. You will have to sit and watch your sister endure fevers and immense pain, and know that there is nothign you can do to stop it. Is that something you believe you can do?"

Yang looked back down at her sister, heart breaking as she saw Ruby shivering under a pile of blankets.

"It would be much more beneficial if you used your skills to help me find the Grimmlock and kill the beast after we extract its venom." Victoria finished.

"It's easy for you to say!" Yang snapped, eyes glaring crimson red. "It's not _your_ family that's dying from Grimm venom!"

Victoria stared into Yang's eyes, unflinching. Instead of the cold placidness that Yang was so used to seeing from Victoria, she saw empathy and sadness, as if Victoria knew all too well what the brawler was going through.

"Do not dare believe that I have not lost family to the Brutus." Victoria said, words containing venom despite her neutral tone. "I have lost _much_ more. This thing took my mentor, and many of my friends. Do not dare say that I could not understand your suffering."

Yang bowed her head in shame. "I'm...I'm sorry." Yang said. "I...I didn't know."

"Yelling at me will not change what happened." Victoria said calmly. "Nor will it change was your sister will have to endure. However, you can change what will happen to the Brutus, to my village, and to your sister's fate. Would you not rather kill the thing that did this to her, and prevent it from harming others?"

Yang stood silent, eyes wandering back to her sickly sister.

"Wouldn't you do everything you could to save your sister?" Victoria asked.

"Yes." Yang said gently. "To save my family, I would do anything."

Victoria nods, and begins walking towards the enterance of the cave.

"Victoria?" Yang called to teh girl. Victoria stopped, and turned her body to face YAng while still keeping the cave enterance in her line of sight.

"I'm sorry for what I said." Yang said sodftly. "And I'm sorry about what happened to your father, and your mentor."

Vicotoria bowed her head. "Thank you." She turned and started walking towards the mouth of the cave. "Stay with your sister, Yang. It's my shift, anyway."

And then she returned to the mouth of the cave, where she stood guard until the sun began to rise the next morning.

 **To be continued...**

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Hey-o! I'm back! I admit, this chapter took me a LOT longer than I wanted to. Anyway, thanks so much for those of you who read/followed the story, because I'm really excited about writing this one!**

 **I'll check back in with the next installment of "Grimmlocke" in the next two weeks!**

 **-thrillerartist**

 **(P.S: just so you know, I am a fan of tragic endings...DUNDUNDUN!)**


	3. Chapter 3

**NOTE: I DO NOT OWN** ** _RWBY_** **!**

 **Chapter 3: Deadline**

* * *

 **-Yang-**

Yang awoke to the feeling of an odd presence standing above her. It started as a subconscious tick in the back of her mind, but quickly spread to a feeling of unease. Eventually, her fighter's instince won out, and she opened her eyes to finding a one-eyed pirate girl staring at her.

"GAH!" Yang yelled, backing away from the girl. "Jeeze, Victoria, do you make a habit of watching people while they sleep?!"

"No." Victoria said, unfazed by the question. "I just figured that nudging you awake was not going to be enough."

"You figured right about that." Weiss groaned, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "She sleeps like a bear in hibernation."

"Shut up!" Yang snapped.

"Yang." Blake said, immediately getting her hyper partner's attention. "Look."

Ruby was still huddled in her cape, but her eyes were open, however, they were a duller color than usual. Whereas they were normally a bright and shiny silver, they were now pale gray. "Mornin'." Ruby mumbled, before shivering back into her cloak. The three girls looked at her with concern,

"The sun came up a long time ago." Victoria said. "We need to get moving if we want to get her back to the village in time."

"I can carry her." Yang said. "I can put her on my back-"

Victoria grimly shook her head. "The venom will spread slower if she's kept still, lying down."

"So we'll make a stretcher for her." Weiss said.

"That will work." Victoria answered. "Blake and Yang, you two go out in the forest and gather as many branches as you can. Make sure they're sturdy, and not rotten. Weiss and I will stay here and look after Ruby."

"I'm not leaving my sister." Yang said, her heart wrenching every time she looked at Ruby's pale and shivering form.

"You can best help your sister by getting her the materials you need." Victoria said firmly. "I'm the best qualified to care for Ruby's condition, and I don't think Weiss is built for heavy lifting."

"Hey!" Weiss blushed.

"Hush." Victoria snipped.

Yang clenched her fists. Since when does this girl get to tell her what to do? Anger boiled in Yang's gut, and it was begging to be let loose. Suddenly, a warm and gentle hand on her shoulder calmed her nerves, and when Yang looked up, she saw her partner looking at her with concern in her eyes.

 _Please,_ she seemed to say silently, _just do what she_ asks.

Yang's anger dispersed into a sense of defeat, and her hands relaxed. "We'll be back soon." Yang said, turning towards the mouth of the cave and walking to the woods. Blake kept pace besides her, and simply her being there was enough to calm Yang.

* * *

 **-Blake-**

There were very few moments when Blake saw her partner scared. Sure, she had watched Yang go toe-to-toe with an Ursa, hand feed a Nevermore shotgun shells from her gauntlets, and face giant robots in the street. But all those times, Yang was calm. She was in control of herself, and (mostly) of the situation.

That wasn't the case here.

Here, Yang could do nothing but watch her little sister grew sicker and sicker, as an unknown venom seeped closer and closer to her heart and brain, determined to kill her in the cruelest way possible.

Blake had never seen Yang so afraid. Her eyes were tinted lavendar, their usual color, but Blake could see them dart back and forth from tree to tree, could see Yang look back towards the cave every few minutes. Blake even caught Yang wiping at her eyes when she thought she wasn't looking.

But Blake saw. There was rarely anything Yang could do that Blake wasn't aware of.

"Hey." Blake said gently, having caught Yang looking boack towards the cave. "We're going to save her."

Yang's head dipped towards the ground, eyes staring at her boots. "I know, it's just..." Yang took a deep breath, to calm her already shaking nerves. "I'm...it's always been just the two of us. Me and Ruby, since we were little. Dad was always away at work, and Summer...so it was just me and Ruby for a while. I always looked out for her. I made myself promise, ever since that day in the woods when we were kids that I would always protect her. That I would always fight whatever was trying to hurt her, or us. But now..."

Blake finished for her. "Now you're faced with something you can't fight." She said softly.

"Exactly." Yang said, sounding totally defeated. "I don't know what to do."

"Yes, you do." Blake said reasuringly. "You're going to finish this mission, because that's what Ruby would do if it were you, or me, or Weiss in her situation. We can save her by helping Victoria."

"You're right." Yang sighed, and collected her wood that had fallen to the forest floor. "Let's get back to the cave."

"Keep her as still as you can," Victoria said as they picked up a sleeping Ruby and laid her on the stretcher they had made from banches. and keep your guard up. Victoria grabbed Ruby's legs, while Blake and Weiss hooked thier arms under Ruby's midsection. Yang cradled her sister's head in one hand, her other under Ruby's neck.

"Ready?" Victoria said. The three other girls nodded. "On three. One, two, three!"

Together, the four girls lifted Ruby up and set her down gently on the wooden stretcher. Then, each girl grabbing one corner of the makeshift gurney, lifting it up together, they set out into teh forest once againt.

"Be on your guard." Victoria said softly. "The Brutus _always_ goes after the young and the weak, and let us face the fact, your leader is both right now."

Needless to say, that comment made each girl more on edge than they already were.

At each step of the way back towards the village of Stenlite, each girl kept their guard all the way up, determined not to let anything happen to their leader, or to each other. Yang stood at her sister's head, watching to woods one minute, while also keeping an eye on her little sister. With each step, they were brought closer and closer to the safety of the village gates. With each step, Ruby's breathign became more labored, and her face scrunched tighter in pain.

When they reached the arched and wooden gates of Sternlite, a team of medics came to meet them. They examined Ruby's condition, and instructed WBY and Victoria to bring her to the clinic where the other victims were housed. There, Ruby was placed on a thin cot, fitted with a fleece blanket and a pillow. Weiss stayed by her partner's side, and took the liberty of wiping Ruby's face with a cold cloth-using her precious ice dust to keep it cold.

Yang had run off to grab more blankets for Ruby, who was shivering despite her regularly spiking fever.

Blake, having noticed the somber looks of the medics who examined Ruby, was talking with Victoria in a corner of the room, towards a more secluded area of the clinic.

"How serious is this?" Blake asked. "How long does Ruby have?"

Victoria sighs. "At this rate...I believe a day at most."

Fear spiked through Blake's body. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. Now was not the time to lose her cool. "Why so short?" Blake asked, trying to stay calm. "You said that-"

"Unfortunately," Victoria interjected, not wanting to be reminded of words she'd spoken, "we did not catch her condition soon enough." Victoria sighed, pinching hte bridge of her nose before continuing on. "Children already have a higher mortality risk than grown adults. There is less space in the venom for the spread in a child's body. Ruby may not be a child but she is small, and therefore her vital organs and vessels are closer together. I have discussed with the healers, and they say that she is strong, that she will probably make it through a day before-"

"A day?" Yang's voice choked. Blake and Victoria turned to see that Yang had eavesdropped on thier conversation on her return from hunting for extra blankets. They watched as Yang dropped the blanket she was holding, and stared towards her sister in fear. "Ruby..." She choked.

"We will find the Grimmlocke in time." Victoria said. "We will get the venom, we will make the cure. And I promise you, we will kill the thing that did this to Ruby."

* * *

 **-Ruby-**

When Ruby awoke, it was to shooting pain that extended from her arm. Numbness, too, in her fingers. It was becoming harder and harder to move them on will. Her skin felt way too hot, but a constant cold emanating from her forehead was making her wish someone would turn the heat up. Breathing was getting a little more difficult, more uncomfortable. It was like she couldn't get enough air in when she breathed, even though she didn't think her lungs could'nt expand any more. When she opened her eyes, bright lights forced her to close them again. When she cracked them open, she saw a concerned Weiss staring down at her, a sight she wasn't too used to seeing. Immediately, Ruby knew that her condition must have worsened.

"W-what...?" Ruby said between labored breaths. "Where...?"

"We brought you back to Sternlite." Weiss said, wiping Ruby's face again with a cold cloth, ignoring how Ruby shuddered at the touch of it.

"You...shouldn't have-"

"We had to, Ruby." Weiss argued, albeit sounding too tired to argue much. "We had to. You were getting worse, and we didn't have the proper materials to take care of you in the woods."

Ruby heard the approach of footsteps, and saw Weiss's head look towards the direction of the sounds. Ruby would have turned her head to see who it was, but she found she was too weak to do even that.

"She's awake." Weiss told the figures.

"Ah, I see." It was Victoria's voice. Victoria moved towards where Weiss was, so that Ruby could see her. One lime-green eye and a leather eyepatch stared down at Ruby, and the girl found that there was no coldness in it this time, but rather...sadness.

"You are quite the trouble maker, are you not?" Victoria asked, some semblance of a joke in her tone. "We brought you back to my village. We will continue the mission later this afternoon. Do not worry, you are going to be just fine." Victoria stepped back, and Yang and Blake came into Ruby's field of vision.

"Ruby.." Yang said, filled with relief. "I'm so glad you're awake! We're going to find the cure for you, and for the others. You're going to be just fine." Yang flashed her sister a signature smile, but it was broken by another of Ruby's coughing fits. It was slowly becoming more and more difficult for her to breath. Yang's smile dropped, replaced by a look of pure concern and guilt.

"Don't worry...Yang," Ruby gasped, still trying to put on a brave face. "Like you said...I'll be...fine."

Yang tried to return the smile to Ruby, but her face ended up morphing into a cringe. She grabbed Ruby's clammy hand, and began rubbing circles around the back of it with her thumb. She wiped strands of sweat-dampened hair away from Ruby's face. "I can stay with you, Rubes, if you want me to." Yang said, though she sounded unsure.

Ruby forced a small smile, and weakly shook her head. "As your leader..." She struggled to get teh words out, "I'm ordering you...to finish the job we were asked to do."

"Ruby-"

"Yang." Ruby said as strongly as she could. "Go. I'll be fine."

As Blake watched the scene from the foot of the bed, she noticed that the presence beside her was missing. She turned, looking at each end of the makeshift hospital, and saw that Victoria was nowhere to be seen inside.

* * *

 **-Blake-**

The streets of Sternlite were, for the most part, empty. Two children were drawing in the dirt outside their home, but quickly scattered once they saw Blake coming. Victoria's hut was separated from the other houses on the thin dirt road. Blake realized that she never really took a look at it until now. The house itself wasn't in bad shape, but there were small repairs that wouldn't take much time to do, if done quickly. There were spots of mildew growing from the bottom of the house, signs that the wood was aging and would need to be replaced eventually. Blake also noticed some new planks of wood on the roof, obvious signs that the young girl had tried to repair leaks in the house on her own, if only temporarily. But it was clear that Victoria devoted much of her own time towards the people of this village. Blake understood the feeling of neglecting oneself for the sake of an obsession all too well.

"Are you looking for our Victoria, young lady?" A wisened old man asked, calling to Blake. Looking over he shoulder, Blake saw a wisened old man leaning on his broom. It was obvious that he was sweeping the streets, and had stopped his work when he saw Blake.

Blake nodded. "You didn't happen to see where she went, did you?" She asked.

The man shook his head, scratching his partially bearded cheek. "If I know that girl, she's probably over by the cemetery. Visits there whenever she's got too much on her mind."

Blake nodded in silent understanding, knowing all too well what it was like to have too much on your mind. "Did she lose someone close to her?" Blake asked the man.

The old man gave her a look of discomfort. "It's really not my place to say." He said, rubbing the back of his neck with the hand that wasn't holding hte broom. "All I can tell you is that she's been through too much. Death of her mentor, of her father, losing her eye. She's the strongest person I've ever met, and she's more than half my age! Imagine that..." The man starred off into the distance for a few moments before bringing his attention back to Blake.

"Which way's the cemetery?" Blake asked.

The man pointed towards the south side of the village, far away from the gates. "In the very back of the village, almost to the edge of it." The man said.

"Thank you", Blake said, nodding towards the man before tunring towards the south side of the village.

"Oh, and young lady," the man called, "do understand. Victoria doesn't mean to be the way she is. I know she can come across as silent, and cold, but really, it's just her way with dealing with everything she's lost."

 _Believe me._ Blake thought. _I, better than anyone, understand._

The cemetery was a barren plot of land adorned with boulders that signified the gravemarkers. Blake saw Victoria standing in front of one, her hands held behind her back, her posture rigid. Blake thought that she looked like a soldier.

She walked up to Victoria, who upon hearing her approach said, "I would have preferred you not have followed me." Victoria turned to face Blake, that same stoic look on her face.

"I just wanted to know where you were." Blake said, her face just as stoic. "We still have a job to do, and we're all the more motivated than ever to get it done."

"Believe me, I know what our job is." Victoria said softly, looking back at the grave. When she turned her eye back towards Blake, Blake thought her mind must have been playing tricks on her. Was Victoria's eye ...lighter? Maybe it was just the light of the sun, but Blake could have sworn it was almost a lime-green color.

"Come on, Blake." Victoria said. "We should get back to the village. We have dawdled too long here."

But Blake didn't move, and neither did Victoria. Instead, they both read the writing on the stone before them, though both of them took very different meanings to the words:

 _Franklin Stein._

 _"Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish,_

 _is dear to me,_

 _and I will defend it."_

A sudden thought passed through Blake's mind, and ultimately, through her lips. "Your father was your mentor, wasn't he?" Blake asked.

For a few moments, Victoria was silent, before admitting finally, "Yes."

Blake put an akward hand on Victoria's shoulder, which was surprisingly warm. "You can trust us, you know." Blake told her. " _All_ of us."

Victoria shrugged off Blake's hand. "I would not have let you stay here if I did not trust you." Victoria told her. "I just cannot waste my time on sob stories that have no relevance."

Victoria turned around coldly, walking almost robotically back towards the village streets. As Blake watched her go, a chilling thought crept into her mind.

Victoria's father was her mentor, which that meant her father was from Atlas.

The man who created the Brutus was also from Atlas.

That meant that Victoria's father was most likely the Brutus's creator.

 **To Be Continued...**

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know it's been a while, but I've been so swarmed with schoolwork that I've barely had time to breath on my own! College be like that, somtimes;)**

 **THe Quote on the grave is taken from Mary Shelly's _Frankenstein_ , which was a main inspiration for this story. I thought the quote reflected Fraklnin Stein's life well, because though he created a monster that ended up killing and harming a lot of people, he still did so in the attempt to save lives. **

**See you in two weeks!**

 **-thrillerartist**


	4. Chapter 4

**NOTE: I DO NOT OWN _RWBY_!**

 **Chapter 4: Making Amends**

* * *

 _The thing about Brutus venom that is the most horrifying is the pain that is causes._ _Pain that begins as a dull ache stemming from the wound site, before it quickly grows into a raging fire coursing through thier veins. The pain takes up so much space in the victim's mind that they do not notice the beginnings of_ _paralysis. As the pain begins to roar throughout them, the victim will soon find their extremities become stiff, and soon unable to move them at all. Though the pyralysis will take over their body, it will still feel like all of their blood was replace with fire._ _Medicines can dull the pain, if momentarily, and with regular doses. However, they do_ nothing _to cure the real problem that plagues them._

 _The victim will still die._

 _After the pyralisis, there is only one stage of the venom's progression left._

 _That why the eyes must be constantly checked._ _Once the victim's irises turn yellow, there is nothing more that can be done. No amount of Grimmlocke, or Brutus antivenom, can save them._

 _All that can be done is keep the victim comfortable._

 _Ironically, by that point, pain medicine is the thing that saves them...from an unbearable death, that is._

 _Tell me, how would you rather die? Would you want to be in awake, pain, unable to move at all, but have the chance to say goodbye to your loved ones'? Or would you want to die in a painless sleep, without saying goodbye?_

 _I know which one I would want. It's not like I have very many people to say goodbye to, anyway._

* * *

 **-Yang-**

The sun had set on Sternlite only and hour ago, but Yang felt that it was much later in the night. The hospital was illuminated mostly by candlelight, but an electric generator kept some electric lights powered. Yang sat beside Ruby's bed, holding her clammy hand under the luminescent glow. Yang tried not to worry about much paler Ruby's skin had become, or how her hand shook and sweat

Yang and the others planned to leave for the forest in a little while, to look for the Grimmlocke and hunt the Brutus. Though it was against everything that Victoria had told them at the beginning of their mission, now they had no other options. If they wanted to save Ruby, which Victoria had promised that they would, they had to risk going into the forest after dark.

And not a moment too soon, either. Ruby's veins had already begun to turn shades of dark blue, and purple. It looked like her entire body was becoming one big bruise.

Her pain had become worse, too. Ruby's breathing was ragged, and her face was scruntched up in agony. It broke Yang's heart to see her little sister like this. Her sister, whom she had always promised to protect.

Yang found herself staring off into space, thinking hopeless thoughts, when a slight grip on her hand brought her back into reality. She looked down at Ruby to find that her eyes were opened, albeit only slightly.

"Hey, Rubes." Yang said gently. "I'm glad you're awake. I wanted to..." Yang swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. "We're just about to leave for the woods. I wanted to say goodbye before we left."

Ruby's grip on Yang's hand grew slightly tighter, and Ruby's face contorted into what Yang assumed to be a smile, but looked more like a grimace.

"Ruby, are you huriting?" Yang asked, completely concerned.

Ruby shook her head slightly, cringing at the movement. Yang knew that she was lying even before the words slipped through her lips.

"I know when you're lying, Ruby." Yang said bluntly. "If you're in pain, you need to let someone help you. I'm sure they have medicines for it."

"Don't...want it." Ruby croaked.

Yang sighed in exasperation. "Ruby, please, just take the damn medicine!" Why was her sister so damn _stubborn_?

"No..." Ruby groaned again. Her grip on Yang's hand grew so tight that it began slightly cutting off the circulation. "Yang, no." Ruby repeated. "I...I can handle-"

"Ruby, _please_." Yang begged, desperate for her sister to listen to her. "Just take it. You _need_ it."

Ruby suddenly seemed to have a burst of energy. Pain had momentarily left her face, replaced with annoyance and anger. "No, Yang." She said, her voice becoming more and more raspy. Ruby almost sounded like a demon. "I don't want..." Ruby rambled in her fevered state. "Don't make me take...I won't forgive you if-"

Suddenly, a foregin presence was by Yang's side. A leather-bound hand was on Yang's shoulder, slightly pushing her away from Ruby's bed. Yang stood her ground, wanting to stay with Ruby for as long as she could. The hand let go, and instead, the presence kneeled down beside Ruby's bed, close enough so that Ruby didn't have to move her head at all. The presence became a face, one that Yang both admired and despised at the same time: the Cyclops Girl, Victoria.

Victoria placed her hand on Ruby's forehead, and brushed away some of the bangs that had stuck to it from the sweat.

"Your sister is right, Ruby." Victoria's voice said softly, her thumb gently brushing Ruby's forehead back and forth. "You are in pain, and you need to take the medicine that can help with that."

"No." Ruby shook her head. "Other people-"

"Need it, just like you." Victoria finished for her. Ruby tried to argue, but Victoria wouldn't let her get another word in. "Whether you like it or not," She continued, "you are a patient under our care. There is not much we can do for your other symptoms, except help with the pain when it becomes unbearable. You are a brave person, Ruby, but even the bravest heroes need help when they are in need of it. So, please. I know how much agony you must be in right now. Please, let us help you in one of the only ways we can for now."

Ruby's face relaxed slightly, pain and anger replaced with fear. "I'm afraid." She whispered so softly that Yang almost couldn't hear it. Her heart clenched in pain at hearing her baby sister sounding so defeated. Yang squeezed Ruby's hand in comfort, trying not to worry at how weak Ruby's was when she returned it.

"I know." Victoria said. "And it is okay if you are. But I do not think that you are the type who allows fear to define your actions."

Ruby looks at Victoria, finally understanding what the girl was asking of her. She nodded stifly, and that one motion told Yang how bad her pain was becoming.

Victoria produced a syringe and a vial of clear medicine from her hunter's pouch, and began to fill the needle. Vicotria tapped the air bubbles out of the syringe before lightly slapping the vein on Ruby's un-injured arm, causing it to pop up slightly. Victoria inserted the needle as Ruby looked away from her arm, towards Yang.

"It's going to be okay." Yang said, "Everything's going to be okay."

Vicotria looked over at Yang reassuringly, and nodded her head slightly. She turned her head back to Ruby, and laid her hand on Ruby's forehead once again, forcing her to look Victoria in the eyes.

"'Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore, powerful'." Victoria said, before pressing down the needle, and filling Ruby's veins with medicine that would momentarily relieve her pain.

Yang felt the feather-light grip on her hand relax, as her sister's half-lidded eyes finally droop down. Her breathing became slower, and slightly more even, indicating that she was in a painless sleep. Yang looked at Victoria with pure gratitude. "Thank you." She said, voice cracking slightly.

"Do not take what she said to heart." Vicotira said, looking away from the blonde warrior. "She is not thinking very clearly right now. Pain makes us do and say ridiculous things."

"Still," Yang said, "thank you."

Victoria looks at Yang finally, and Yang thought that she could see her girls only eye had watered slightly. "You are welcome" Victoria said. "And for what it is worth, although I am not usually one to give false hope, I will promise you once again, that I will do everything in my power to help your sister."

Before Yang could say anything else, Victoria turned and walked out of the clinic.

Yang returned her attention to the sleeping Ruby, and gave her a kiss on her forehead. "I'll be back soon, Rubes." Yang said as she got up to follow Victoria. "Just hold on a little longer for me, okay?"

* * *

 **-Blake-**

The woods were dark, and eerily quiet. Though Victoria had said before that walking through the woods at night was the most suicidal thing that could be done, it was one of the only opetions they had left if they wanted to save Ruby before her time ran out. Already, before they left, Ruby's veins had begun to turn shades of purple and blue. Her pain had progressively gotten worse, but Ruby being Ruby, she refused to receive any painkillers. Yang had informed Blake that Victoria was able to convince Ruby to take the pain medicine, much to Blake's relief. She couldn't stand the idea of her leader in constant agony.

However, the mention of the one-eyed girl caught Blake's attention once again. After their little interaction in the cemetery, where Victoria admitted that her father was also her mentor that she had spoken do highly of, the logical side of Blake couldn't help but draw disturbing conclusions that painted Victoria in a not-so noble light. If Victoria's father was the creator of the Brutus, what would her motives be? Blake soon found herslef staring at Victoria's back, waiting to see a sign of treachery, waiting to catch a moment to ask the question that's been eating away at her mind since they left the graveyard.

"What's got you quieter than usual?" Yang asked, drawing Blake out of her thoughts.

Not wanting to give anything away too soon, Blake replied carefully, "Just...thinking."

At that, Yang smirked, and said, "Cat-like senses tingling?"

"Shut up." Blake snapped, immediately regretting it. Her friend was worried, of course she would start cracking jokes at everything. It was how Yang relaxed.

Vicotoria turned around, face drawn into a scowl. "Is something the matter?" She hissed. She had ordered them into silence when they left Sternlite, not wanting to draw more attention to themselves than they probably already were by traveling at night.

"Yang's just making stupid jokes again." Blake sighed, covering up her suspicions.

"Hey!" Yang started, trying to argue in favor of her sense of humor. "My jokes are-"

"I do not see how any of you can make jokes at a time like this!" Victoria snapped in annoyance.

Yang's shoulders sagged a little, and she smiled wryly. "It helps me relieve stress." She said quietly.

Victoria huffed, and said, "Well, you should focus on the mission instead!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Blake saw Weiss stop and approach Victoria, "Hey, maybe _you_ need to relax a little." Weiss said plainly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You need to calm down."

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Victoria growled, throwing off Weiss's hand. Her one eye glowed in anger and frustration.

 _Okay, her eye is definitely brighter than it was the other day,_ Blake thought. _Her eye was an emerald green on the day they met, now its a lime color, almost as if it's getting-_

"I will relax once we have completed our objective." Vicotria snapped, interrupting Blake's thoughts.

Suddenly, one of Blake's ears twitched, having cought the sounds of a creature's growling. It was deep and gargley, and the meer sound sent icy chills sound her spine.

"We _all_ need to calm down." Blake said, though it was to no avail. Yang, Victoria, and Weiss had started an argument that was progressively becoming louder.

The growling became louder and louder, and the sound of branches snapping were soon to follow it. It reminded Blake of the sounds of the waves crashing on the shores of Menagerie, soft, slow, and then thunderous crashing all at once.

Through the trees, Blake could see the demonic red glow from the eyes of the Grimm that were about to be upon them.

"RUN!" Victoria shouted, jumping back towards the trees, notching arrow after arrow to land into each Ursa's hide. When there were none left in her quiver, she pulled apart her bow into two identical katanas before she charged into the hoarde of Grimm.

Yang stood her ground, punching each Ursa that came her way, only stopping to reload the buckshot in her gauntlets. Blake stayed by her partner's side, forming Gambol Shroud into a Katana, protecting herself and her partner from stray claws that got too close for comfort. Out of the corner of Blake's eye, she saw Weiss using her glyphs to slow down the Grimm before using her Fire Dust to incinerate them. They came, one after another, surrounding the four of them. But the Ursa were in for a fight that they didn't anticipate. Within a few minutes, there was only one Grimm remaining, and it was the largets in the bunch. The Alpha.

Weiss, Yang, and Blake stood their ground as the Alpha Ursa rose to its hind legs, and bellowed before stopping mid-roar. It collapsed to the ground, landing on its stomach, and on its back was Victoria, her swords stuck into the Alpha up to the hilts. She pulled them out and sheathed them, before jumping off of its back.

"Keep on towards the mountain." Victoria ordered, "We can't waste anymore time."

Weiss and Yang turned, and just as Blake was about to leave, her ears picked up a shuffling noise...coming from the Alpha.

I was not done yet.

"Victoria!" Blake shouted, just as the Alpha swiped at Vicotoria's head, its claw getting close enough to rip off the leather mask that guarded the place where her eye used to be.

Blake lifted Gambol Shroud, and fired her pistol, killing Alpha and vaporozing it immediately.

When Blake turned her eyes back towards Victoria, she was met with a truly horrifying sight.

Victoria's head was cast towards the ground, turing around repeatedly, scanning the ground for her mask.

That is when Blake saw them. The raised and angry scars that adorned the right side of Victoria's face were ugly enough that Blake was tempted to look away. That is, until she noticed the veins that protruded from the scars, almost all the way across the bridge of Victoria's nose. The veins the color of red wine, and the skin around them pulsated with inflammation. Victoria' face was downcast, still looking for her face mask. Blake continued to eye the scarred up side of her face when Victoria caught her in the act. When that lone lime-green eye met Blake's amber ones, she became tense. She looked away, and Blake couldn't ignore the shame that emanated from her.

She was afraid, and Blake knew exactly why. Blake recognized the signs. She had seen the exact same ones on the people at the clinic.

"You're invenomated, aren't you?" Blake asked.

Behind her, Blake heard Yang and Weiss turn around at her words.

Victoria nodded stiffly. "I...suppose I have some explaining to do," she said.

Yang's hands clenched into fists, and she gnashed her teeth. Weiss could feel the heat readiating off of the blonde, indicating that she was about to blow her top.

"How could you not tell us this?" Yang said venomously, stomping up towards the one-eyed girl. "You tell us to trust you, but you-"

"We all have out secrets to keep." Victoria said, looking away from her. She looks back at them, her eye landing on Blake, "I would think that a Faunus in hiding would know that better than anyone." She said finally. Blake sucked in a breath in surprise as Yang's anger finally boiled over.

Lilac orbs turned crimson, and Yang's skin began to radiate pure heat as her hair began to light with golden fire. She stomped towards Victoria and grabbed the girl by the collar, pinning her against a tree.

"You're so full of bullshit!" Yang growled. "You're not in a rush to save your village, or Ruby, are you? You're in a rush to get the cure because you're trying to save yourself!"

Victoria's face scrunched in anger. She growled menacingly, "You know nothing about me or my motives-"

"Bullshit!" Yang roared. "You're in such a rush because you want to cure yourself first!"

"That is not-"

Yang grabbed Victoria's collar, her knuckles white as snow. "If my sister doesn't make it because of you-"

"If anyone's not going to make it out of this, it's _me_!" Victoria said, managing to shake out of Yang's grasp. Blake was concerned at how winded Victoria sounded. "So yes, I am in a rush," Victoria continued, "but only because I need to fix my father's mistake before I run out of time!"

Shocked and confused silence consumed the group.

"I need..." Vicotira was so worked up, she was out of breath. "I need to finish this. I need to fix this. Where's my mask?!"

"Shut up about the damn mask." Yang said icily. "Stop talking about what you need to fix, and _explain what's really going on_!"

Vicotria grabbed her hair in frustration, and grimaced as she shook her head. "You wouldn't understand-"

"WE WANT ANSWERS!" Yang bellowed, her eyes once again turning red. " _NOW_!"

 **To Be Continued...**

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: For those of you who are fans of Mary Shelly's _Frankenstein_ , I pulled another quote from the book. "Beware; for I am brave, and therefore, dangerous" is one of my favorite lines from the book. I thought that it would be appropriate line to fit into the story, as this part of the story is leading up to the cimax.**

 **A special shout-out to those who are currently following the story, and for the reviews I've received! I always get so excited when I see that people are reading my stories!**

 **-thrillerartist**


	5. Chapter 5

**NOTE: I DO NOT OWN _RWBY_!**

 **Chapter 5: Ticking Clock**

* * *

 _The Grimmlocke plant had the ability to boost antibodies when its sap was injected into an ailing person. It cured all diseases, all poisons, in both humans and faunus alike._

 _Why would it not work on a venom?_

 _The antivenom for the Brutus is not like that of a snake, or that of a spider, or that of any creature known to man. The venom itself resembles an average neurotoxin. Venom causes fever, immense pain, hallucinations, and ultimately, pyralysis. However, its antivenom is what makes it unique. Rather than inject the venom into an animal to create antibodies against it, the Brutus's venom must be injected into the root of a plant called Grimmlocke. When trying to create an antivenom for his creation in the past, Franklin discovered that formulating the venom in the usual scientific way would only result in killing more innocent creatures. However, he discovered a plant at the top of Mount Luar, which the villagers had all but forgotten about._

 _By injecting small amounts of the venom into the root of the Grimmlocke plant, the antibody-replicating powers of the plant's sap can create antibodies against the venom. Then, once the sap is collected from the plant, it is boiled in order to make it injectable. After the injection, the effects of the venom will be slowly reversed. The victim will need at least a week to recover from their ordeal._

 _However, once the victim's eyes begin to turn yellow, they are already on limited time._

 _It is harder to see in people who have lighter shades of eyecolor, like blue or hazel, since thier eyeshades are often subject to change._

* * *

 **-Weiss-**

Weiss watched as Yang continued to glower at Victoria, her eyes rimmed with crimson rage.

"TELL US WHAT'S GOING ON!" Yang roared again. Victoria stared off into the distance with her one eye, turning her face to hid the scars that marred her skin and ruined her face. Weiss felt sorry for the girl, having both been on the receiving end of Yang's rage, and seen it in action several other times.

From where she stood, Weiss could see Victoria's lower lip tremble. Weiss, having located Victoria's torn mask, held the piece of leather and cloth in her hands. "Please", Victoria said in a small voice, "can I have my mask?"

Weiss began to walk forward towards Victoria, but Yang held her arm out, stopping her.

"You can have your mask back after you tell us everything." Yang said sternly, crossing her arms.

Weiss wanted to tell the blonde brute to calm down, but stopped herself when she saw the full extent of Victoria's face. It was like watching a train crash; too horrible to look at, but impossible to turn away. Weiss counted two large scratches that ran from the top of Victoria's forehead, across her entire eye, and stopped midway through her cheek.

Victoria dipped her head, letting her hair fall into her face, covering her scars. She took a deep, shaky breath. "When I was very young," she started, sounding defeated, "my father made a very, _very_ stupid mistake."

"Yeah, we gathered that." Yang snapped. "Just spit it out already!"

"Yang." Blake scolded from behind Weiss."Let her talk."

Weiss turned to see Blake looking at them with a stony expression, much like the one she wore when they first met. Weiss remembered how cold she was to everyone, how bratty she acted. How she was so determined to shut everyone out of her life, even though she was living in close proximity with her team.

She remembered how alone she felt, even though she convinced herself she didn't need anyone.

Much like Victoria had done for so long, too.

When she turned back towards Victoria, Weiss handed Victoria the mask, much to Yang's disagreement.

Yang opened her mouth to say something, but Weiss cut her off immediately. "It's just a mask Yang." She snapped, effectively shutting up the blonde brute. "And having a wound like that open to the air can't feel too good, not to mention the amount of infection it can get." Weiss held out the mask, and Victoria took it, looking at Weiss gratefully. However, Victoria didn't put the mask on right away, much like Weiss thought she would. Instead, she held it limply in her hand.  
Victoria looked at the trio of huntresses around her, and gavce them a brief smirk. It quickly turned into a grimace a few moments after, almost too quick for Weiss to register.

 _Another reason, clearly, for not showing any emotion, must be because it hurts her_ , Weiss thought. Everything was starting to make sense, even though there were only a few pieces of the puzzle that she knew.

"Where do I even begin a tragic story like mine?" Victoria asked no one in particular.

"Just start at the beginning" Weiss said, trying to be gentle. "The _very_ beginning. Yang's right, we need to know what's really going on. We can't help if we don't know what's wrong."

Victoria nodded, and swallowed with effort. "It all started with my father." Victoria said. When he was younger, my mother and him were Grimm Studies professors at Atlas Academy." Victoria continued, her face souring as the bitter truth emanated from her lips. "However, they also moonlighted as researchers in Grimm biology and hunting habits." Weiss saw Victoria's hand shake as it balled into a fist, still clutching her leather mask. "One day," Victoria continued, "they went on an expedition that went wrong. They were charged by a herd of Boarbatusks, and my mother died trying to protect my father. I was...I was only a toddler when she died."

Victoria stopped her story, her words seemingly cought in her throat. Out of the corner of her eye, Weiss saw Yang close her eyes, and let out a heavy sigh.

 _That's right_ , Weiss remembered, _Yand and Ruby's mother also died on a hunting mission._

"Go on." Yang sighed, a little calmer than a few moments before. "It's okay. Just go on."

Victoria nodded, and once again swallowed hard. "After her death, he moved us to this village. He'd become obsessed with creating the ultimate weapon against the Grimm. He was called mad when he tried to get permission for his research in Atlas, so he moved us out here so he could conduct his...experiments." Victoria forcibly gulped, and Weiss saw tears well up in her good. Weiss knew better than anyone what it was like to have a man run by obsession as a father. She had one as well, though hers was obsessed with something far less virtuous.

Once again, Weiss watched Victoria grimace as she forced out the rest of her story. "A weapon that could think, learn, and be trained to hunt Grimm."

Chills went down Weiss's spine. She'd seen that _weapon_ in action before, and it ended with her best friend being delivered to death's doorstep. The Brutus was a horrible creation, and she could not imagine it every being used for good.

"A weapon that would have the instincts of a Grimm, but the loyalty of a pet." Victoria looked away from Weiss, towards the tree-line as she said, "My father...he conducted _inhumane_ experiments on animals in order to get his formula "right." I can't tell you how many times I woke up in the night to the sounds of animals screaming."

Weiss turned to look at Yang, and instead of finding hidden anger, she found sympathy towards Victoria. When she saw Blake's reaction, Weiss found that the faunus girl had turned her face away, her ears twitching in agitation.

"I'm sorry," Yang said, her eyes returning to their normal lilac color. "That...I can't even imagine something like that."

Victoria swiped at her eyes, catching stray tears that, Weiss could tell, she was trying to hold in. "What is worse is what happened when he...'got it right', or so he thought." Victoria said bitterly. "He injected a distilled sample from the Pools of Grimm into his pet wolf." Victoria brought her hand up to her neck, and pulled out a chain. On it was a dog's tag, inscribed with the name "Brutus".

 _"My_ pet wolf." Victoria's lip quivered for a moment, before she once again managed to swallow her emotions. Victoria tucked the chain back into her shirt, clearing her throat. "Naturally, his creation turned on him after mutated with the Grimm DNA." Victoria said. "When my father realized what he had just done, it was already too late. The creature attacked him, and ran into the woods. It started attacking the village a few days later, and my father spent the rest of his life atoning for his sins."

Yang, once again, gave a long sigh. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them, gave Vicotria an apologetic look. "So...how did you get your scars. How did you survive being invenomated for this long?"

Victoria gulped again, suddenly very self-conscious of herself. "When I was eight," she said in the tone of someone who didn't want to relive their past, "my father started training me to become a huntress, and a healer. He knew that the life he was living and the creature he created were bound to catch up with him, and he wanted someone he trusted taking over for him.

One day, on a training hunt my father and I were ambushed by the Brutus. It targeted me, and took a swipe at me. My father put himself in between me and the Brutus, but it had managed to nick me in the eye. My father took most of the damage, but because of my eye, and my age, I was already dying in his arms. He resorted to..." Her voice strained, and she had to cough in order to clear it. "He had to cut out my eye to stop the flow of the venom. It was because of that my semblance finally awoke."

"What is it?" Blake asked.

"Acceleration." Victoria said bitterly. "I can accelerate any part of my being, my thought process, speed, agility...healing." Victoria's face twitched, before regaining it's slight composure and resuming her story. "My father had taken too much damage in the fight. He used the rest of his strength to carry me back to the village. He died at the gates handing me off to the healers. I was a mystery to the village after that day. My wounds healed, and the spread of the venom stopped. It was only about a year ago that they started up again."

"Why did it continue?" Yang asked. "Why did the venom even stop spreading in the first place?"

Victoria sighed. "My semblance only works in one part of my body at a time." She smiled wryly. "If I concentrate on the area around the scars on my eye, the venom stops spreading, but if I'm in a fight, and have to use it someplace else-"

"And the venom spreads again." Weiss filled in. Her hands shook as she clutched Victoria's leather mask.

Victoria took a deep breath, and said, "Yes."

Yang's scowl deepened. "So, you're trying to get the cure for yourself, too, then?" She asked. Yang seemed a little less angry than she was a few minutes ago, but her eyes were still blazing red.

"No." Victoria said, shaking her head, and her hair fell over her damaged eye once again. "I _never_ wanted to get it for me. It would be wasted on me if I tried."

"What do you mean?" Yang asked, taken off guard by that answer. "You need to explain these things, because these half-assed answers are confusing-not to mention irritating."

Victoria pinched the bridge of her nose, a gesture that Blake knew meant she was trying to think. However, as soon as Victoria fingers touched her mottled skin, she sharply pulled them away. Blake knew that the venom caused excruciating pain, and if Victoria's experience was anything like Ruby's, she must have been in constant agony.

Victoria clenched her fists so tightly that her knuckles turned white. "I said that the venom became irreversible once the victim's eyes started turning yellow." Victoria fixed them with a blank stare with her one remaining green eye. "And my eyes were not always green." She said finally.

"Wait." Weiss said. "You mean-"

"They _were_ blue." Victoria spat out. "And we all know what happens when yellow and blue mix, right?" She shook her head. "They have been turning green for a few years now." Victoria continued."The lighter the color becomes, the less time I have. _That's_ why I'm in such a rush." Victoria continued, taking deep breaths to calm herself. "The recent attacks had me focus my semblance to other areas, which has caused my eye to become lighter and lighter shades of green. If I keep my semblance around my eye, I can prolong my life...at least for a little while longer. If not...well, that really depends on how many fights I get in to."

Suddenly angered, Blake spit out the question that had been plaguing her since the story began. "So why are you going on these hunts with us?!" Blake asked, suddenly angry. "You're killing yourself!"

"I KNOW THAT!" Victoria roared, her anger matching Yang's. This was the first time since meeting Victoria that any of the girls had seen any form of emotion in the stoic girl.

"I know what I'm doing." Victoria said again. "I know what will happen to me. But what's the point in preserving my life if I'm dying anyway? I would rather spend what little time I have left actually helping people. It would be selfish to think otherwise."

Satisfied, though not with the answer she had wanted, Yang finally uncrossed her arms. Her eyes had softened, and returned to their normal lilac color. "Is there..." She stammered, "is there anything we can do?"

Victoria shook her head solemnly. "I'm afraid that there's nothing anyone can do for me. Not anymore."

Weiss walked up to Victoria, and handed her the leather mask that covered most of Victoria's face. Victoria looked at the Schnee with gratitude, and took the mask from her hands. She attempted to return the mask to her face, but gave up after seeing that the Ursa had ripped the strands completely in half. It was useless to her now.

"Oh, well." Victoria said, tucking it into her medical pouch. "I would not have needed it for much longer, anyway."

She looked at the three girls before her, as she truly was, one green eye and one marred with scars.

"We have dottled here too long," Victoria said in her usual stoic voice. "We must continue up to the mountain. We will find the Grimmlocke patch in a clearing at the top."

Needless to say, now that Victoria's big secret was out in the open, the members of team WBY were constantly looking towards the one-eyed girl in concern. It was as if they were just waiting, preparing themselves for the inevitability of Victoria's prolonged death. The girl, after admitting her dark secret, was constantly grunting and panting. Walking beside her, Weiss could see that she was drenched in her own sweat. When the hike up the mountain was intermediate at best, to Vicotira, it seemed like a real struggle. She gasped and panted at every slight incline, and grunted with pain whenever she touched her face to mop off the sweat. Nevertheless, Victoria continued, determined to fulfill her mission. To undo all the terrible things that her father had caused.

A lot like Weiss wished to do by becoming a huntress.

However, unlike Weiss, Victoria seemed to bear no animosity towards her father. Instead, when the topic came up, Victoria seemed sad for him...and ashamed of what he had done.

 _Probably because she actually loved her father_ , Weiss thought ruefully. _And she still does, after all the he's done._

Weiss found herlself lagging behind to be with Victoria, who had slowly taken residence in the back of the group.

"Just..." Victoria shouted to Yang and Blake, who were almost jogging to the plateau that lay just ahead. "Just...over the hill...and through the woods."

"To grandmother's house we go!" Yang shouted back in response, though it seemed more like a opportune pun than an actual attempt at joking.

When Blake and Yang turned a corner, Victoria leaned heavily against a tree.

"Are you okay?" Weiss asked, unsure if the poor girl was going to make it back down the mountain.

"I am..." Victoria panted, "alright. Just need to...catch my breath."

Weiss grabbed her arm with her right hand. "So what's waiting for us at the top of the mountain?" Weiss asked, trying to keep her mind off of Victoria's condition. Victoria leaned her head back, exposing the damaged side of her face to Weiss. The area was pulsating with purple veins, and Weiss saw that they extended past the bridge of her nose.

She was running out of time, and fast.

"Why do you insist on doing this?" Weiss asked. "We can take it from here, get the Grimmlocke ourselves."

Victoria shook her head, still gulping air like a fish out of water. Weiss saw that a thin coating of sweat glisten under the thin moonlight.

"It has to be this way." Victoria panted. "If I'm going down...then I want it to be doing something that helps people."

Weiss sighed. _She's sounding more and more like Ruby,_ she lamented. "So I'm guessing there's nothing I can do that will convince you to stop and wait here while we gather the Grimmlocke plants, correct?" Weiss asked. Again, Victoria nodded, clearly exhausted but too stubborn to quit.

"I've come all this way," Victoria said, regaining her breath. "I can't stop now. Not after everything I've gone through, that my village has gone through."

Weiss sighed, nodding her head. "Okay, then." She said. "Are you okay to continue?" Weiss asked. Victoria nodded again, and stopped leaning on the tree. She and Weiss continued on their path towards the forest. Weiss stayed alongside Victoria as they walked over the small hill, and was surprised when Victoria seemed to catch her second wind.

 _She's using her semblance to move forward,_ Weiss thought sadly. _If Ruby was in pain before this level of severity, I can't imagine how much Victoria must be in._

Victoria pushed aside a curtain of branches, exposing a view that couldn't hold a candle of the mountains in Atlas. Though this was a plateau, the entire clearing was covered in luscious green grass, and slight rolls of hills. When she looked up, Weiss could see the star was scattered with winking silver lights, and could almost feel the gravity from the moon. When she looked down, Weiss saw the silver light from the broken moon seem to almost reflect off of each leaf of every tree, causing the forest to appear as if it were glowing.

Needless to say, it was one of the most beautiful things Weiss had ever seen.

When she turned her eyes back to the fields, she found that there were many purple flowers scattered throughout.

The Grimmlocke plants.

Yang and Blake were standing beside the treeline, waiting for further instruction.

Victoria walked ahead, and kneeled down by a Grimmlocke plant, grabbing it by the stem and pulling it up by its root. "Take as many as you can." Victoria said, turning back to face them. "It's important to gather the plants by the roots-that's where we inject the venom to create the antibodies. Fill your sacks, then we'll get back down to the forest to hunt for the Brutus."

The hike back down to the forest floor was much easier than if was going up with the clearing. Though each of their bags were stuffed with the plants, which had all been pulled up by the roots, it was not much more difficult for the members of team WBY. However, Victoria was still sucking up air with every step like she was a fish out of water.

"So how do we draw this thing out in the open?" Blake asked, unclipping Gambol Shroud from its scabbard.

"It senses agitation and weakness..." Victoria panted. "So I should be the perfect bait for this."

"WHAT!?" All three girls shouted increduously.

"No way you're doing that!" Yang screamed. "You said it yourself, you're the only one who knows how to make the-"

"I know what I am doing." Victoria refuted before coughing inter her hand. "As soon as it comes," she said, clearing her throat, "as soon as it comes, I can use my semblance to dodge it."

Weiss crossed her arms. _Why is this dunce so stubborn!_ She thought. _She's going to use herself up before we even get the rest of what we need for the cure._

"Do any of you have a better idea?" Victoria argued. "And how moronic do you think I am? I _have_ a plan."

Weiss internally scoffed. _If I had a nickel for every time Ruby said something similar._

Weiss suddenly had a chilling realization: Victoria and Ruby were very smiliar in many ways. They were both self-sacrificing to the point of their own possible demise. More so now, since they were both dying from the same cause.

 _The only difference is that Ruby has a chance._ Weiss thought. _Victoria's using what's left of hers in to save a girl she barely knew._

"You need to hear me out!" Victoria said, interrupting Weiss's thoughts.

"No," Yang growled, her anger returning. "You need to stop trying to get yourself killed!"

Weiss heard a crashing sound of branches breaking underfoot. "Yang-" She said worriedly.

But Yang ignored her pleas, and grabbed Victoria by the collar, bringing her so close they were practically nose-to-nose. "YOU CAN'T SAVE _ANYBODY_ IF YOU'RE DEAD!" Yang screamed in Victoria's face. Victoria turned her face, towards the trees, where the sound of crashing branches quickly broke up their argument.

As quickly as it started, the sound stopped. "What was that?" Blake asked.

"I told you it was attracted by agitation." Victoria said ominously, shrugging out of Yang's grasp. She looked at them with sad eyes as the three girls stared at her with shock. "I just needed the right push that would get you all angry at the same time."

Their eyes widened as the meaning of Victoria's words finally sunk in.

"It will be upon us shortly." Victoria said, completely in battle mode, her impending death seemingly forgotten. "We must encircle it and bind it to the ground as best we can."

"Wait-" Weiss interjected.

"Once that is done, I will be the one to collect its venom." Victoria continued, not stopping to indulge Weiss's plea. Then, once its venom is extracted, we must kill it immediately." Vicotoria looked at all three of them, her eye looking into theirs one at a time. "Weiss, I will need you to hold it down with your gravity dust, while Yang and Blake tie its legs together."

"What will _you_ be doing?" Yang asked.

Victoria extracted a small jar from her medical bag. Weiss noticed that it was empty, even though it was sealed with a thin plastic lid. "I will get one of its claws free and milk the venom from it."

"Are you sure you want to be the one who does that?" Yang asked.

"I am." Victoria said. "I have the most history with the Brutus, I know the beast better than anyone else. It _has_ to be me."

"This... is a terrible plan." Weiss said, although she still spun her revolving dust chamber on her rapier. She would see this thing through, just like the others were. Just like Ruby would were she still here.

"I agree", Blake nodded, "but a it's the only plan we have right now." She unsheathed Gambol Shroud, twirling it within her fingers.

They readied themselves for thier final battle with the scourge of Sternlite.

* * *

 **-Blake-**

Almost as soon as Vicotoria revealed her ridiculous plan to WBY, the beast charged through the trees in a wave of black, spiky fur and fangs. Its magma-red eyes glowed in animalistic rage, and Blake could feel its killing intent from just looking into them. It opened its mouth to roar, spraying foaming spittle all over those unfortunate enough too get to close to it.

Namely, Victoria an Weiss.

"Hey, there, Brutus." Victoria said, grabbing her dog-tag out from under her collar. "I am sorry, old friend, but it is well past time we both ended this suffering."

For a moment, it was a stare down between the two. Victoria gazed at her former pet with pity and acceptance. Blake throws Gambol Shroud to Yang, who catches is in one hand, while she used her other to fire at Brutus, letting the momentum of the line move her in a large circle around the Brutus's legs and paws. Meanwhile, Weiss gathered her energy, and pushed out with her semblance to form a gravity glyph under the Brutus. Its paws sank into the earth from the added weight bearing upon it, but still fought to break free.

Victoria approached, slipping two leather gloves over her hands. "Hey, boy." Victoria said softly, speaking to the chuffing beast as if she were speaking to a scared animal. "Do not worry." Victoria said gently. "It will all be over soon. We will end this together." Quick as a flash, Victoria pounced one of the Brutus's claws in one hand.

 _There's her Acceleration_ , Blake surmised, as she pulled her end of the line tight once again, so that the beast would remain still while Victoria started the careful-and dangerous-process of milking its venom.

Victoria produced the glass jar from her knapsack, and pressed the claw to the lid of the jar. Just as it pierced the plastic cap, yellow fluid began leaking from the talon like raindrops from the sky. When the flow ebbed and slowed, Victoria would press it harder. Blake watched, mesmerized, as yellow fluid leaked from the tip of the claw, pooling at the bottom of the jar.

Suddenly, the Brutus shifted positions, managing to wrestle itself free for one moment.

It's claw slipped in Victoria's grasp. She hissed in surprise and momentary pain, as the claw sliced through the palm of her thick glove. Yang and Blake pulled the line tight again, and Weiss forced another gravity glyph to form under the Brutus's feet. The Brutus began to sink under the added pull. Blake looked over at Victoria once again, and saw that she hadn't stopped pressing down on the claw, even though her gloves-her only means of protection-were compromised. However, undaunted, Victoria continued to milk the venom, pressing harder and harder down on the claw. The Brutus roared each time she did, but it was unable to move anything that wasn't its maw.

Once the flow of venom has completely stemmed from the claw, Victoria released it, taking a step back. She resealed the jar with an ice-dust charged lid, mostly likely to keep the venom cold. Blake remembered reading somewhere that venom and antivenom both needed to be kept cold in order for it to remain usable.

"He is all yours, Yang." Victoria panted, cradling the jar. She lifted her eyes back towards her former pet, and for once, Blake saw tears in both of them. Tears leaked both from Victoria's good eye, and from the ducts in her scarred one. "And for what it is worth, I am sorry, boy, for everything."

Yang growled. Her eyes filled with pure red rage, and her hair alit as her sense of wrath grew. She released her end of the line, handing it to Blake. She took both ends of Gambol Shroud in her hands, pulling them as tightly as she can. Poor Weiss had to form yet another gravity glyph under the beast's feet. It had now sunk so far into the ground that its paws were almost completely swallowed by the earth.

"I've been waiting a _long_ time to do this." Yang growled, walking up to the beast, her killing intent like that of a lioness on the prowl. Her voice was very low and sinister, and sent chills up Blake's spine as the sound of them. She hoped that she would never be on the wrong end of Yang's anger. With a strong jerk of her arm, Yang loaded her right gauntlet. For a moment, she hesitated, her eyes wandering towards Victoria, who was tucking the venom jar into her knapsack. Yang's eyes flicked back towards the Brutus, and she reared herself for a punch.

"See you in Hell, you bad dog!" Yang shouted as she released her punch directly into the monster's eye. The Brutus' eye disintegrated in the socket, and it reared its head back in pure anguish. The howl it released was pull of pain, and anger, and fear, and it almost made Blake feel sorry for the former animal. She could only imagine how Victoria was feeling.

"Drop the line!" She hear Victoria shout. "It's going to buck, drop the line!"

Blake and Weiss did as they were told. They both leapt back from the beast, who had indeed raised itself onto its hind legs as it released another howl. The roar was cut off mid-howl, and the Brutus fell limp on the ground. The four girls watched, both in pity and in relief, as the mutant Grimm vaporized into a cloud of black smoke.

They all stood, and Blake found herself releasing a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding.

But it wasn't over yet.

"We need to get back to the village as quickly as we can." Victoria said, taking her gloves off, wincing as she exposed her minimal wound. "If the venom gets warm," she continued, "we will not have another chance to make a cure."

"You got scratched." Yang said bluntly, her rage having subsided. She pointed towards Victoria's hand. "Let me see it."

Victoria shook her head, cupping her right hand in her left. It was a mere scratch, like that of a small scrape a child would get after falling. Only this small scrape would only bring her death day closer.

"It doesn't matter anymore." Victoria sighed, pulling a small roll of gauze out of her pouch, and began wrapping it around her injured hand.

"Of _course_ it matters!" Yang said. "You matter! Your life matters, so why are you so intent on throwing it away like this!"

"I'm not throwing anything away!" Victoria said, sounding suddenly very tired. "I'm not giving up, I'm not throwing anything away, I'm facing reality! Nothing can save me, the cure would be wasted on me if we tried, so _stop trying to save me_!" That, at least, was able to shut Yang up, if only for the moment.

Blake looked at Victoria's hand, at the purple and red fluid that coated the bandage. Silence enveloped the group for a few moments, before Victoria said. "Come on. We need to get back to the village." And without waiting for them to answer her, turned, and began walking south, back towards Sternlite. Towards those who needed the cure.

Towards Ruby.

But for Victoria, her death was drawing near, even as Blake and the others carried the cure in their bags.

 **To Be Continued...**

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Whew! That was a hard chapter to write! I'm sorry it was _much_ later than two weeks, but finals are just around the corner, and I haven't had much time to write lately. **

**Thank you to everyone who has read and posted reviews on the story! It gave me great inspiration for writing this chapter. I know some of you wanted more of Weiss in the story, so I hope that this chapter made up for it, at least a little bit. This is my first RWBY fanficiton, and it means a lot to me that there are fellow writers out there who are willing to give constructive criticism!**

 **The story is drawing to a close, with only a few chapters left, so stay tuned!**

 **-thrillerartist**


	6. Chapter 6

**NOTE: I DO NOT OWN _RWBY_!**

 **Chapter 6: The Eyes of Regret**

* * *

 _My father was a coward who could not live with the grief of losing his wife._ _At least, that was what I used to believe. You never really know what motivates someone until you find yourself standing in thier shoes._

 _I know how powerful regret and greif can become. I never truly did before._

 _Grief can make one do stupid things. It is a powerful emotion that can drive a person to thier breaking point, if they are not there already._

 _Regret meerely sinks you deeper into the pit of despair, hightens your sense of loss by making you responsible for everything that went wrong, even if it was not truly your fault. Shouldering all the blame on yourself seems like the natural thing to do, and you would do anything to fix the wrongs they had done._

 _I looked into the eyes of regret everyday growing up. It was a look of hidden darkness, of remorse that could never be appeased._

 _Regret for a decision that could never be undone._

 _My father spent the rest of his life trying to undo all the damage he caused to Sternlite. He strove to destroy the creation of his madness, and tried despeartely to find a way to heal those who were afflicted with the Burutus's venom._

 _But they deserved more, they all deserved to live...but sometimes, we do not always get what we deserve._

 _I should know that better than anyone._

* * *

 **-Blake-**

After an exhausting hike back from the mountain, from killing a lone Grimm creature, and extracting its precious venom, the group of four once again returned to the tall wooden gate that marked the entrance to Sternlite. Just like a few days before, a lone figure stood at the gate, watching for something. When they got nearer to the village, the figure began running towards them, as as they drew nearer, Blake saw that it was a middle aged woman wearing in a blood stained apron.

A medic.

Blake felt a chill run down her spine.

The medic stopped before them at little more than an arm's length away. Blake realized that she was faunus, from both her scent, and from the dog ears that sat atop her great-streaked hair.

"Which one of you is the sister?" The woman asked, slightly out of breath.

Yang's eyes flashed in fear. "I am." She mumbled.

The woman addressed Yang and said, "You need to come with me. Your sister's asking for you...she's...she's not doing well."

Without a second thought, Yang began running towards the village, before she realized that she still had the Grimmlocke in her bag. The pulled it off her shoulder, and tossed it towards Blake.

"I'll go with her." Weiss said, handing Victoria her bag of Grimmlocke.

Blake watched at Yang continued her sprint towards the clinic, Weiss in hot pursuit behind her.

"We need to get this to my hut." Victoria said. "Immediately. Time is running out for your friend."

The inside of Victoria's home was in the exact condition as they left it when they began their journey only a few days ago.

 _Was it only a few days ago that all of this started?_ Blake thought. It amazed herthat so much could have happened in such a short amount of time.

Victoria set the jar on the table, and shrugged off the bag that held the Grimmlocke bush. Her back cracked disgustingly when she stood straight as she walked over to gather the rest of the chemistry materials. With her overly sensitive ears, Blake could hear Victoria grind her teeth, but out of either pain or frustration, Blake didn't know. She merely watched as Victoria pulled a miniature munson burner and a box of several beakers and vials and other lab equiptment that Blake couldn't name out of a cupboard. Blake was rather impressed with the sophistication of it all.

As Victoria set the box on the table, Blake noticed that she was favoring her left side. It was so slight that it could barely be recognized to an untrained eye' but Blake was a huntress, and was trained to be hyper-observant of everything in her surroundings.

"Are you alright?" Blake asked, feeling stupid for saying it (since Victoria _admitted that she was dying_ ), but felt that it was the only appropriate thing she could ask. Victoria looked up at Blake, and leaned her weight on the table. Her forehead was perspiring, and her arms shook from gripping the table. Victoria breathed in, and said "I...I'll be alright. At least, for now. But nevermind me. Let's get to work."

* * *

 **-Ruby-**

She was surrounded only by a haze of pain and fog. Shadows danced accross her field of vision, taunting her, causing her to doubt her powers of observation.

She could feel her forehead was dripping with perspiration, and no matter how much the kind nurse tried to sop it up with cool cloths, it always came back with a vengeance.

She was tired, too. There was always that, but no matter how many times Ruby tried to shut her eyes long enough to sleep, there was always a stab of pain that kept her awake. At first, all this wasn't so aweful. The pain was excluded only to her arm, and she'd had chills and cold sweats, but nothing that couldn't be fixed by blankets and pain medicine. However, it progressively got worse, and Ruby soon found herself sobbing from the pain, and could feel her teeth chatter from the chill that never seemed to leave her. Pain that was only isolated to her arm had spread to the rest of her body, and roared inside of her with every beat of her heart. It felt like she was getting electrocuted and stabbed at the same time.

She truly didn't know what was worse-the pain, or the hallucinations.

At first they were subtle. Shadows that danced accross the room. A nurse with the wrong color hair. But the worse Ruby's pain became, so did the figments of her imagination. Some new monster always seemed to recur into her vision, scare her half to death as a new wave of pain washed over her. Ruby wanted so badly to run, to reach for Crescent Rose, but her body was too worn down from the pain and the fever and the exhaustion to move at all.

Oum, she was exhausted. She was so exhausted, and yet, she was unable to sleep. Sometimes, she was able to close her eyes for a few moments, slow her breathing long enough to where she could almost feel the tug of sleep pull at her, only to start awake from visions of blood and darkness.

Right now, Ruby was unable to turn her eyes away from the wooden ceiling, watching helplessly as the panels changed and morphed into the creature she had fought. It was as tall as a horse, but had the lean and sleek body of a wolf. Its eyes glowed with hatred as bright and red as Ruby's cloak. The shadow creatured curled its lips at Ruby, exposing a set of daggar like teeth.

The Brutus.

Ruby began to stir in her blankets, trying to sit up, only to have a pair of hands force her back into bed.

"We need to run!" Ruby said, looking towards the owner of the hands, a woman in a stained apron.

"Clam down." The woman said, stroking Ruby's hair. "Everything's alright. You're safe here." Ruby closed her eyes briefly, and felt herself leaning in to the woman's touch. It felt so warm and soft, a mother's touch.

When Ruby opened her eyes again, she was met with a face much like her own, if only it being aged slightly by a few more years, her eyes being silver, much like Ruby's.

Ruby's heart swelled when she realized she was looking into the face of her mother.

"Mom?" She asked, timidly. Honstly, Ruby really wasn't sure that anything she was seeing could be trusted at this point.

The woman smiled sadly and said, "I'm afraid not, child." Ruby blinked, and realized that the woman was the same nurse that had been by her side before.

"I'm sorry." Ruby said. "I just-"

"Where's Ruby!" A shrill voice shouted, and Ruby's nauseaus stomach dropped. She'd be able to recognize Yang's voice anywhere. At the same time, the form of the Brutus emerged from the wall beside Ruby, and Ruby flinched at the sight. The creature practically stood over her bed, staring at everyone who passed them by. The Brutus growled, and Ruby felt a drop of saliva fall on her cheek, from its maw. Fear rivoted throught her entire system, and for the thousandth time that day, Ruby found herself questioning her own reality.

 _Please,_ Ruby thought, _I know this isn't real, but why...you can't feel hallicinations, can you?_

"Yang!" Ruby screamed. "Yang, get away!"

"Ruby," Yang breathed, finally locating her sister's bed and dropping to her knees beside Ruby. "Ruby." Yang repeated, brushing her hand across Ruby's forehead. "Ruby, it's okay."

Instead of soothing her, Yang's words only seemed to summon another wave of pain. instantly, Ruby felt the urge to vomit as the sensation that her veins were being lit on fire course through her. Ruby grunted, squeezing her eyes shut. She gripped her sheets with her hands, trying to focus on anything besides her pain.

 _It's just a wave._ Ruby thought, trying to use what rational parts she had left of her brain. _It'll pass...please, just let it pass._

But unlike the other times, the pain lingered, just barely staying under the line of tolerance for Ruby.

"Can't you do something for this!" Yang's voice stapped at the nurse.

"I'm afraid that she has to wait another hour before she can get another dose." Said the nurse's voice. "If we give her too many painkillers at once, it could kill her faster than the venom does."

Ruby opened het eyes. Yang looked down at her sister, and Ruby looked up at Yang. "Yang," Ruby whimpered, shutting her eyes to try and force the pain away. "I...I...-"

"I know it does," Yang said, cutting her rambling off, "But it won't much longer." Yang rubbed her thumb in circles around Ruby's forehead, and Ruby found comfort in the touch.

A few moments later, the pain subsided to a pinching throb throughout her whole body. It still hurt, Ruby didn't feel like throwing up or biting her tongue in half anymore, so that was something, at least. Ruby opened her eyes again, and saw Weiss was standing beside Yand.

"Hey, partner." Ruby croaked, grimacing in an effort to smile.

Weiss meerely fixed her with a stoic gaze, though Ruby could see clear concern in her eyes. "Victoria and Blake are working the cure right now," Weiss said, "so you and everyone else are going to be okay."

Weiss and Yang filled Ruby in on what she missed while she was in the clinic, about Victoria's past, about her eye, and her connection to the Brutus, the very creature that landed Ruby in a medicial med.

"That's...kinda messed up." Ruby said, shocked that Victoria's father would use her own pet dog to create his weapon of Grimm destruction.

"Yes." Weiss said, gripping her arm, looking away from Ruby. "It was, indeed, messed up."

"But the Brutus is gone, Ruby." Yang said, still holding her hand. "I can't hurt anyone, anymore."

Ruby was going to say something else, before another surge of stabbing heat coursed through her entire body, pooling in her limbs until she felt like she was being burned from the inside out. It was as if every muscle inside of her had locked up from an electric shock strong enough to pierce the marrow of her bones. RUby screamed in pure agony, before feeling a pinch in her arm that had come to be so familiar to her the past few days. Immediately, there was a flood of cool relief that filled her, while her mind was gently lulled into a dreamless, drug induced sleep.

* * *

 **-Yang-**

"It's better if she sleeps." The woman said, putting a hand on Yang's shouder and giving a comforting squeeze before she turned to check on her other patients. Yang held her sister, letting her know that she was not alone, even though Ruby was too drugged up to be really aware of anything. Yang stayed seated at her sister's side, silently keeping vigil until Weiss came over with a bowl of cool water.

"Thanks, Weiss." Yang said as the Schnee

"You look exhausted." Weiss said, wringing out the cold cloth before placing it on Ruby's perspired forehead. "When was the last time you slept?"

It sounded more like a demand than a question.

"What day is it?" Yang asked.

Weiss scoffed slightly. "Go to sleep, Yang." She said, turning back towards Ruby. "I can watch over her."

"Weiss-"

"You're not the only one who hates seeing her like this!" Weiss snapped, before her voice softned. "And as harsh as this may sound, Ruby's not going anywhere anytime soon. _Sleep_."

Yang put her head in her hands, and rubbed her eyes with her fingertips. She felt _so_ exhausted, and _so_ ready for this to be over...but she _had_ to see this through, just like everyone else was.

"Weiss," Yang sighed, "don't take this the wrong way, but I _can't_ go to sleep. If she...if this is-"

"It's not." Weiss snapped, crossing her arms. She knew what Yang was thinking without her even saying it. "Don't even finish that thought, Yang Xaio-Long." Weiss said strongly. "This is not the end. We just have to have a little faith in Victoria to get the antivenom made in time."

Yang snorted. "Why is it that the fate of our leader lies in the hands of a dying girl?" Yang rubbed her eyes, not realizing how tired she truly was. "And why did she choose to leave that out in the first place, Weiss? What if she'd died while we were out in the woods? We'd all have been screwed over, some of us _way_ more than others."

Weiss merely set the cloth back in the bowl, and addressed Yang, her hands folded over her skirt. Weiss had a habit of doing that whenever she had something meaningful to say. "I...I don't know the answer to that, Yang." Weiss said. "But I do know that if any of us were in her shoes, we'd want to spend whatever life we had left helping those who couldn't protec themselves. Plus..." Weiss sighed. "Plus, we all have our reasons to keep secrets. Just look at Blake. She didn't think she could trust us with her past until she blurted it out during a heated argument." Yang saw the corner of Weiss's mouth inche up at the bittersweet memory. It was an argument over the White Fang and the nature of the Faunus that caused Blake to out herself in the first place. "But we couldn't give up on Blake." Weiss said. "She was out teammate. It was her secret to tell, and we couldn't have forced her into telling...even though I inadvertantly did."

Yang looked back at Ruby, still holding her limp and clammy hand in her own. Yang always hated secrets, and had ever since she found out that Summer Rose wasn't her biological mother. A huge part of her life was defined by a secret that was kept from her, and Yang hated that she couldn't get the answers she was looking for.

"Victoria promised you that she'd do everything in her power to save you sister." Weiss said calmly, unfloding her hands and taking up the cold cloth, refresshing it in the water. "She giving everything she has left for Ruby, and for the rest of her village. Please, Yang, just trust that she knows what she's doing." Weiss wrung-out the small towel before placing it back on Ruby's head. Weiss was calm in appearance, but Yang could only guess how worried she was. If there was nything the Ice Queen was good at, it was hiding her emotions.

All the while, Yang couldn't help but keep her eyes on her sister, who was in a peaceful-yet drug-induced-sleep."Okay." Yang breathed as she squeezed her sister's limp hand in hers. She stayed kneeling by her sister's bed, but she gave into Weiss's demand, and laid her head down on the thin mattress.

Yang felt her consciousness slip away before her eyes were even fully closed.

* * *

 **-Blake-**

"Blake, get the large guage syringes." Victoria said as she threw the last Grimmlock plant onto the kitchen table. "We need to inject the venom into its roots." The vial of pure venom was sitting on the sounter, still being chilled by the ice dust that was in the lid.

"How does injecting the venom into the plant create anitvenom?" Blake asked, rifling through the sprawled out lab equiplment. For all her careful planning and composure, Victoria was a really messy person when it came to her stuff. Once she found what she was looking for, Blake handed the syringe to Victoria, who started filling it with the lemon-yellow liquid that was strong enough to kill an entire village.

"The thing that makes Grimmlocke so special," Victoria said, continuing her work without missing a beat, "is that it has the ability to create its own antibodies. Unusual, I know, and incredibly remarkable. " She injected the first plant, and then set about filling the needle up again as she continued her lecture. "The plant is incredibly resilient against botanical diseases and earthen poisons, all because, instead of using its cells to avoid the pathogen, like normal plants, the Grimmlocke's cells actually _eat_ the pathogens, causing it to absorb the invading DNA structure and create an immunity. It is much similar to what mamilial immune systems do. My father was able to research this, and put the knowledge towards finalizing the antivenom." Victoria emptied the contents of the syringe into the second plant, and continued to do so with the others.

"Once the Gimmlocke roots have absirbed the venom," Victoria continued, "We will boil the roots until they're soft, and grind them into a pulp. Then comes the tricky part-we have centerfuge the pulp so that the antivenom can be separated from it."

"How are we going to do that?" Blake asked, feelling a little uneasy as to where Victoria was going with this. She knew what a centerfuge was-she had read about them in several science-fiction novels. It was a lab tool that spun a vial around in a circle at incredibly fast rates of speed. It was a high-tech tool, and one that they clearly didn't have.

"That is the part that I know you are not going to like." Victoria sighed. "I am going to have to use my semblance to spind the vials at incredibly fast speeds for minutes at a time."

Blake's unease morphed into heart-dropping fear. "You...but that will-"

"Shorted my already short life, I know." Victoria finished. "But it is something that has to be done. For the sake of my people. My family."

Blake looked at the plants, wondering how something so trivial and beautiful could both end and save so many lives. "Are you sure about this?" Blake asked, turning her gaze back towards Victoria. The girl was refilling the needle yet again, and injecting the contents into the fourth plant.

There was a long pause, until the needle was emptied, and brought back out of the root. "Yes." Victoria said softly. She looked up at Blake from her position in the chair. "It is what I want...And it is what needs to be done." She said, her one good eye glowing with resolve and sadness.

Blake swallowed hard, preparing herself to ask a question that had been on her mind ever since Victoria's confession in the woods. "Victoria," Blake said, "You said that this wasn't just about continuing your father's work."

"Correct." Victoria said.

"So then, what is it really about?"

Again, there was a pause, until Victoria had finished injecting venom into another plant.

"I did not tell you three the full truth in the woods." Victoria said slowly. "That day that my father died...the reason that I was out hunting with him at such a young age...It was because I begged him to take me along. He did not want this life for me...but I did. He fought me every way he could, but in the end, my father agreed to teach me everything he knew, train me to become a huntress worthy to face any Grimm. That day, he wanted to go collect the Grimmlocke for his research, and collect venom from the Brutus if he could. I gave him hell, begged him to take me with him, and so he did. He always said that I had too much of my mother in me. I should have known that a child accompanying a man would be prime prey for the Brutus. It always did attack the weak, after all."

Victoria took a deep breath, and looked at Blake with a regretful look in her eye. "My father was a foolish man for creating that beast." She said. "But regret and grief can make anyone do foolish things. I...I finally understand what he was feeling. I know that I would do anything to prevent what happened to us from happening to anyone else."

Blake felt for the girl. She truly did. how many foolish and regretful choices had Blake made in the past? How many times had she wished she'd taken back everything she said, everything she did for the White Fang? The further hatred she had helped spread because she tried to gain her rights through fear?

Blake opened her mouth, but Victoria spoke before she could get a single word in.

"It was my fault we were attacked." Victoria breathed, as if she were unsure she could say the words if she waited any longer. "The Brutus always went after the young and the weak. I was tired from the hike, from training, and I was too slow to react in time. It went after me, and my father stepped in to take the hit. Still cost me an eye, though..."

Blake could have sword that she heard a tremble in Virctoria's usually formal voice.

"I do not want to die, Blake." Victoria said sadly. "But the reality is that I already am. And if I am going to die, it might as well be for something worthwhile. Would you not give your life to save others, if you were forced to make that choice?"

Blake didn't even have to think about that decision.

"Of course I would." Blake said, not an ounce if indecision in her answer. "That's what being a huntress is about, after all. Living your life for the protection of others."

Victoria nodded, and turned back towards the Grimmlock plants. "So then, are you going to help me with this, or not?"

Blake grabbed another heavy-guage syrince from the pile of old lab equiptment, as Victoria walked her through the rest of the process of filling the syringe with the precious venom, before continuing on describing the rest of the antivenom process.

All the while, Blake couldn't help but notice that Victoria's eye had turned just one shade away from being called yellow.

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey guys! So sorry for the late update, but I have had an absolute crazy couple of weeks! I have recently moved into a new house, so in between packing, moving, unpacking, and organizing everything, I've barely had any time to write! I really hope that this chapter was a nice change of pace, since we haven't seen what things look like in Ruby's POV. I did a lot of research about medicinal plants and the extraction process, and how scientists create antivenom. Naturally, A LOT of these facts have been watered down, turned backwards, and given SO MANY HYPOTHETICALS, that it can nowhere NEAR being called "science". But what's the funf of fiction if you can't play around with the rules of the natural world a little, eh?**

 **Thanks a bunch to those who have commented on the story! I am always up for constructive criticism, especially when I'm given tips for improvement. A nice pair of fresh eyes is always great for the writing process!**

 **Anyway, the story is just two chapters away from being over! I'll have the next chapter up within the next two weeks, but if this changes, make it three.**

 **Until Next Time!**

 **-thrillerartist**


	7. Chapter 7

**Note: I DO NOT OWN** ** _RWBY_** **!**

 **Chapter 7: No Regrets**

* * *

 _The final stage of envenomation is when the irises turn yellow. This signifies that the venom has spread to the central nervouse system, and pyralisys begins shortly after this. Though the victim feels no excruciating pain, it feels as though they are slowly becoming trapped inside themselves. The first system to go is the the muscles in the extremeties, as the body struggles to protect its vital organs. Once the pyralysis reaches the respiratory system, the victim will begin to feel as if they are being squeezed to death. With each breath they take, they will find it harder and harder to breathe, as they begin to lose control of their diaphram._

 _Once the victim is no longer able to draw in breath, oxygen deprivation will set in. As their brain is cut off from oxygen, the victim will lose consciousness while thier central nervous system begins to lose cells and die. After five minutes without begin able to draw in a breath, the victim's fate is sealed._

 _Death is inevitable..._

 _But then again, isnt' that true for all of us?_

* * *

 **-Blake-**

Blake watched patiently as Victoria poured the ground roots into several test tubes, anxiously awaiting for her to use her semblance to centerfuge each indiviaual vial by hand. Meanwhile, Blake was grinding up the rest of the softened roots with an old hand powered coffee grinder. The pulp looked sickly, like the insides of a person's stomach, and it was hard for Blake to believe that this very substance was going to be the saving grace for the afflicted people in the village.

Victoria would not start centerfuging the vials until all the roots had been ground, and it was because of this that Blake felt the most troubled by. If she took her time, people would perish, but if she chose to be slow, Victoria would live for another few minutes.

Was that all Blake could give the girl who was sacrificing so much?

There were twenty vials laid out before Victoria, and the batch that BLake was grinding now would fill up the other twenty vials that were still empty. There would be forty vials, and each victim would need three doses of antivenom every six to eight hours. Each of the vials held about twelve doses of antivenom inside of it, which meant that each person would need at least two vials, depending on thier height and weight.

In the clinic on their first day, Blake counted about twenty people total, twenty one including Ruby.

They were cutting it too close for Blake's comfort.

Carefully, Victoria picked up a vial full of the pulp,and closed her eye as she took a breath in through her nose. Blake stopped her work for a second, and stared at Victoria's hand in fascination, as her hand vibrated back and forth with the speed that shouldn't have been physically possible. A minute passed before Victoria stopped vibrating her hand. Holding up the vial to the light, Blake saw that there was a clear yellowish fluid sitting on the stop. Vicoria picked up a syringe, and extracted the fluid from the beaker into a small medicine vial. It was barely enough to fill up completely, but it was at least a few doses enough for one person.

"One beaker down," Victoria said grimly, "and thirty-nine more to go."

 **-Weiss-**

She watched her two teammates sleep, slightly envious, but also very relieved. Hearing her partner's screams on entrance into the hospital, Weiss nearly broke down into tears. And Yang...well, she looked about ready to strangle the nurse who was lokoing after Ruby. Then again, Yang's shorter-than-normal fuse was probably due to her lack of sleep, which the blone brute was finally getting.

Meanwhile, Weiss kept a silent vigil over her drugged-up partner, the only noise being the drops of water that were wrung out when Weiss refreshed Ruby's cold cloth. As she placed it back on Ruby's head, Weiss saw her partner begin to stir. The nurse was right, Ruby's pain medicine only lasted less than a few hours. Weiss heard Ruby led out a whimper as her eyes blearily opened.

It hurt Weiss to see her leader...no, her _friend_ like this.

But there was only room on this team for one ball of irrational emotion, and she was currently snoring alongside her sister. Ruby eyes only opened into thin slits, as if it were too eshausing-or painful-to open them all the way. In them, Weiss saw dull silver, relieved that there was not a hint of yellow in them. Victoria's warning still lingered fresh in her mind.

 _Once the eyes turn yellow, the venom has reached the central nervous system, and there is nothing more we can do._

"Weiss?" Ruby mumbled, before breaking out in a coughing fit.

"Save your breath, dunce." Weiss said halfheartedly, taking the cloth off of Ruby's forehead and dipping it into the cool water again.

"Don't...feel good..." Ruby groaned, her face turning a pale green. "Hurts..."

Weiss took in a breath of air, and let it out slowly. "I know." Weiss said in a soft tone that was almost unheard of for her. "But it-

"Wrong..." Ruby mumbled. "Something's wrong." She muttered again. Weiss saw Ruby's legs twitch underneath the covers, which caused Yang to stir awake.

"What's wrong?" Yang asked, suddenly alert after seeing Ruby's distress.

"C-c-ca-" Ruby gargled, spittle dripping from her lips.

Weiss could only watch in horror as Ruby's eyes rolled back into her skull, and her body began convulsing on the bed in a storm of arms and legs.

"Weiss, what do we do?!" Yang asked frantically, standing to her feet, putting her hands on Ruby's shoulders to keep her from moving off of the bed and hurting herself.

"H-Help!" Weiss screamed jumping to her feet. "Somebody! We need help over here!"

The faunus nurse came running over to them, and barked at Yang, "Get your hands off of her!"

Yang let go of Ruby, and the nurse shoved her aside as she rolled Ruby onto her side, making sure that there was nothing blocking her mouth or nose.

Just as suddenly as it started, Ruby's seizure stopped.

Weiss saw the nurse's houlders relax a little, before she tucked Ruby's left arm under her head, efectively propping her head up on her hand.

"Make sure that her airway stays open." The nurse said as she turned towards Yand and Weiss. "Don't worry, she just had a grand-mal seizure caused by the fever. I'll be right back with some fever reducers to help with that. We'll just have to keep an eye out for it for now."

And like that, the nurst left them to themselves. Yang gripped Ruby's hand in hers and Weiss saw that they strong-willed brute was trying to keep back tears of frustration and worry. Victoria hadn't mentioned anything to them about seizures being a part of the venom's effects, and both Weiss and Yang were unprepared for the sight of one. It was something Weiss never wanted to see again, and she was sure Yang felt the same way.

Weiss was amazed that Victoria could stand and walk, let along _hunt_ with a poison like this running through her veins 24 hours a day, and it made her sad at the same time. Victoria had made it fairly clear that there wasn't anything they could do for her, that the only thing she wanted was to end this nightmare that had plagued her village for so long.

All Weiss wanted was to complete this mission, and go home, back to Beacon, preferably with her team; however, that same thought also made her feel incredibly selfish.

Because even if her team went back home with all four members, even if they were successful in thier mission, a life would still be lost.

And that one life was one too many by Weiss's standards.

 **-Blake-**

Forty vials. That was how many beakers Vicoria had to spin at lightning fast speeds _by hand_. Blake could already tell that Victoria was too exhausted to even stand right now. Blake couldn't ignore how Victoria's eye shone a sickly shade of yellow, a sign of her doom that could no longer be denied. The dying girl's legs shook from the strain of standing, her clammy hands trembling as she struggled to put each vial into the ice-dust padded cases. Victoria explained that if the antivenom came to room temperature, it would be deemed useless, and all of this would have been for nothing.

Even though she barely even had the strenght to stand, even though the only thing keeping her going was sheer willpower, Victoria was still doing anything it took to save her village.

Suddenly, a vial slipped from Victoria's hand, and Blake pounced to catch it in her left hand, saving it from smashing against the gorund.

When Blake stood upright again, she saw Victoria hunched over the table, pale-faced and panting, her legs trembling under her bodyweight.

"Victoria?" Blake asked hesitantly.

Victoria shook her head, and mumbled "I'm fine" before her legs gave out from underneath her. Blake quickly set the vial on the table, and put her hand on the small of Victoria's back.

"I can barely feel my legs," Victoria mumbled. "Leave me, and take the vials to the clinic."

Blake shook her head. "No way." Blake didn't want to leave Victoria, not like this, not in a trembling, half-paralyzed, pain-wrought mess on the floor of her house. Blake couldn't leave her when she needed her most.

"Victoria, we're going to the clinic." Victoria turned to Blake, and Blake saw that her friend's missing eye was awash with enflamed skin, raised purple veins that now took up most of the poor girl's face. However, Victoria's remaining eye was the shade of lemon curd.

It was too late for Victoria. There was nothing anyone could do for her now.

Or was there?

Blake looked at the box on the table, noticing the condensation beading on the vials, then looked back at Victoria, panting from pain and sickness. Blake immediately got up, and started throwing the remaining vials into the wooden medicine box, sliding the lid on top of it.

"Victoria, I'm going to bring you to the clinic." Blake said, kneeling back down on the floor.

Victoria didn't even have the strength to give an argument. She merely nodded her head and submitted to Blake wrapping her arm around her shoulders.

"You need to hold on to me." Blake said. "I'll be carrying the box and you at the same time, so you need to hold on to me."

Victoria meekely nodded again, and gripped Blake's shoulder in her clammy hand. Blake held the shivering girl by her waist, and tucked the wooden box under her other arm. She ignored her tired muscles, ignored the burning in them that told her to stop and rest. Blake wasn't out of shape, but running off of only a few hours rest and little food was enough to bring the most seasoned fighter to their knees. Nevertheless, Blake trudged to the door, kicking it open, and marched though it to the dirt road.

The road was empty except for the old man, who was nervoulsy sweeping the road. When he looked up from his work, and saw the two girls, he dropped his broom and immediately ran towards them. He took Victoria from Blake's arms, and barked "Get to the clinic! I've got her, just go!"

Blake submitted to the urgency of the usually mild mannered man, and ran towards the clinic with enough speed to rival her leader.

 **-Yang-**

If there was one thing Yang learned about her sister growing up, it's that she really despised needles. If wasn't a fear, no, Ruby claimed it was a mild discomfort. Yang usually went first to get their shots, brave and unflinching as the needled was inserted into her bicep. However, that never took away the fear for Ruby, and they had to hold her to the examination table so that she wouldn't squirm away or grab the doctor's hands to an attempt to push the needle away. Over the years, Ruby had grown out of her terror at the sight of needles, from squirming and fighting, to just looking away when it was time for the needle to meet her skin.

Today was a major setback from the progress she'd made over the years. Currently, Yang was holding her sister's kickin legs, while Blake was holding her left arm out so that the medic could inject the antivenom. Weiss, ever the clear-headed thinker, was using myrnaster to hold down her partner with a gravity glyph, which held Ruby to her cot as good as a restraint would.

"Why does the dunce have to be so difficult!" Weiss compained.

"Rubes has never been a fan of needles." Yang says, barely avoiding getting kneed in the eye by her little sister. IT hurt her to see her this way, to see her little sister afraid and in pain. Ruby's eyes shone in fevered madness, and it broke Yang's heart knowing that these were probably the last moments before the effects of the venom became permanent. Every time Ruby woke, Yang always checked her eyes, looking for any sign they had started changing color. Thankfully, they were only shining a dull silver, an almost nickel color.

There was still time.

"I think the better question", Blake grunted, rolling tying an elastic chord just above Ruby's elbow, "is how she's able to fight this hard when she was so weak a few moments ago."

"It's the adrenaline from the hallucinations." The medic said-it was the Faunus woman from before-while she was filling the needle with the first dose of antivenom Blake had successfully delivered a few minutes before. "Fear gives people a surge of strength, no matter what state they are in." The woman continued, tapping the syringe to release any air bubbles that may have gotten in. "What we're seeing right now is Ruby's survival instincts keeping her aware of what it sees as immediate danger."

"Oh, the irony." Yang groans. "She's trying to save herself from us trying to save her. If it weren't so dire right now, I'd make a joke."

"OH, PLEASE NO!" Blake and Weiss groaned in unison.

"We're ready." The medic said. "She needs to be really still for this."

"Got it." Weiss grunted in concentration, pressing Myrnaster further into the floor, strengthening her gravity glyph on her partner. Ruby was pulled onto her bed strong enough to create and indentation of her body on the pillow and mattress. Her struggling hadn't ceased, but it wasn't as extreme as it was a few moments ago. Yang wrapped her hands around her sister's ankles, holding them still in case Weiss's hold on the glyph slipped. Blake held out Ruby's arm in a straight line, the vein bluging on her arm a clear shot for the needle.

The medic inserted the needle into Ruby's arm, and Yang's heart further broke when her sister let out a shrill scream. The medic, unflinching, pressed down on the plunger, injecting the dose into Ruby's veins. She pulled out the needle from Ruby's skin, and took a step back. She wrapped a gauze sheet around the injection site, which had started bleeing.

Ruby fell limp on the bed, and girls finally felt safe enough to let go of her. Weiss released her glyphs, and immediately had to sit down from the exertion.

Yang let go of her sister's ankles, and Blake let go of Ruby's arm. The partners locked eyes, and Yang realized how tired she was when she saw the dark circles under Blake's eyes.

"Where's Victoria?" Yang asked.

Blake only closed her eyes and looked away.

 **-Ruby-**

 _The valley was dark before her. She stood on a familiar cliffside, though the memory of it seemed to slip through the crevices of her mind. She knew this valley, though. She knew the view._

 _Knew that it did not look like this._

 _The ankle high grass swirled in the wind, looking like a river of black ooze. Ruby heard whispers reach the threshold of her ears, but as quick as she turned to see if anyone was with her, the noise would cease._

 _A flash of silver light crosses her field of vision, and Ruby turns around with a start._

 _A woman cloaked in white stands before her, on the cliff overlooking the dark forest below, lit up by the light of the shattered moon. THe woman seems hauntingly familiar, and Ruby draws closer to her. As she reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, the woman turns around, and greets Ruby with a face that is so much like her own, it could practically be called a mirror image._

 _"Mom?"_

 _The woman merely smiles._

 _"It's not time yet, Ruby." Summer Rose says, putting a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "There are things coming that you aren't going to be ready for...and I can't help you. But have faith, Ruby, and don't give up. You're going to lose some battles, and as a huntress, you are going to lose people who are close to you. I've seen what loss does to people, and I've felt that pain too. So has your father and your Uncle Crow. But if you give up every time you lose something, you're never going to be able to move forward." Summer Rose smiled sadly at her daughter._

 _"Mom, what are you talking about?" Ruby asked, confused. "You're not making sense!"_

 _Summer Rose only put her hand on her young daughter's head, and pressed her lips against Ruby's forehead. "It's time for you to wake up, Ruby." Summer said gently._

 _"Mom, wait!" Ruby said, reachign out for her mother only to wrap her fingers around vapor. "Mom, please! What's going to happen?!"_

 _"Goddbye, for now, Ruby." Summer said gently, as her figure began to fade. Soon, all that Ruby was left with were the ghost of the words "I love you" as Summer finally faded into the moonlight, leaving Ruby with the feeling of lips begin pressed against her forehead._

Ruby's eyes flew open, before shutting closed immediately. Spots danced before her eyes, and Ruby's head felt like it was jackhammered open before being sewn shut. She breathed in deep, through her nose and out her mouth, before she opened her eyes again, slowly this time.

"It...It worked!" A familiar voice called. " Guys, she's waking up!"

"Not so loud." Ruby groaned.

"Sorry, sis." Yang said.

When Ruby opened her eyes fully, she saw the relieved faces of her teammates staring back at her.

"Are..." Ruby's voice croaked, "are you guys okay?"

"Dunce," Weiss said, "shouldn't we be asking you that question?"

"What can I say?" Ruby said with a tired smile. "Leaders think of their teammates first."

But though Ruby was glad to be alive, she couldn't ignore the feeling that something inside of her was different. When she closed her eyes, she could still feel the memory of the venom snaking its way through her veins, still see and could still _feel_ the fear of the too-realistic hallucinations that brought back every fear she'd ever had. She could still see the ghostly form of her mother, could still feel her phantom lips on her forehead.

Ruby knew that she would never be the same girl again.

But the most haunting voice inside of her head, was that of Ruby's mother.

 _There are things coming,_ she'd said, _things that you aren't going to be ready for. But have faith, Ruby...don't give up._

 **To Be Continued...**

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know some of you were waiting for me to kill Ruby at the last minute. Believe me, I thought about it when I was first writing the story. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that was never my intention. I wanted this story to be events leading up to the fall of Beacon in the 3rd season that may have changed the perspective of _RWBY_ 's characters. Also, I was inspired to write this story after I read Mary Shelly's _Frankenstein_ (For those of you who haven't read it, I highly recommend doing so!).**

 **In the story of _Frankenstein_ , Victor Frankenstein creates human life by electrifying parts of corpses that he'd sewn together. When his creation comes to life, Victor runs away from it in fear, thus causing the creature to succumb to a life of prejudice, heartache, and anger. In revenge, the creation turns on Victor, and seeks out his relatives and loved ones with the intent to kill them. Victor then tries to kill his creation, and ends up succumbing to sickness caused by stress and exposure to harsh elements. **

**Naturally, you've probably guessed that Victitoria was inspired by the character of Victor Frankenstein. I wanted to give Victor a nobler ending, and thus, created a character that maintained both his childlike devotion to preserving life, combined with his adult knowledge and heartache. Thus, Victoria Stein was created.**

 **The story has one more installment before it ends, and I can't believe it's almost over! It's been a long ride, but it's been really fun to write this!**

 **Until next time!**

 **-thrillartist**


	8. Chapter 8

**Epilogue:**

 _When one is finally faced with death, if can for sure be the most frightening thing to face. It is funny, really. I spent my whole life fighting and killing monsters, and yet nothing ascared me more than staring at the face of death._

 _However, though I was alone for much of my life, I was not for my death._

 _As I took my last breaths, felt the pyralysis creep its way up from my legs and into my chest, inching itself closer and closer to my heart._

 _I was able to find comfort in my friends, who were unwilling to leave my side for a second._

 _My guardian, Alfred, was by my bedside the entire time, holding my hand and whispering words of comfort._ _Behind him were my newfound friends. Ruby and Weiss, and Yang and Blake. Yang and Weiss held Ruby, who had each of her arms wrapped around thier shoulders. The stubborn girl, so much like me, didn't want to stay in bed when she heard about my imminent death._

 _Alfred, whom had sworn to protect me after my father's demise. This was the last thing he wanted for me, but Alfred was my father's friend, and understood why it had to be this way. I am my father's daughter, after all. We fought countless times, about how hunting the beast that killed my father was the last thing he would've wanted; about how I deserved to be a child, and not a warrior. What Alfred did not know, was that I was to blame for Brutus killing my father. At least partly._

 _There was Blake, whose eyes looked so much like mine. She stood next to Alfred, solid and stoic as a rock. Her eyes held a simlar sadness, a similar hopeless expression to one I wore for much of my life. Regret can be a powerful emotion, but it can also be powerful motivation, one I knew all too well. With every mistake I regretted, I devoted a new moment to make up for it. And it was absolutely worth it, even though it killed me._

 _Then there was Yang, the strong-willed blonde who aggrivated me every step of our journey, who had as much anger inside of her as she did happiness. I hope that does not come back to bite her like it did me. Anger gives a surge of power, but also a distraction. Dristraction from pain, from empathy...from things you want most to avoid. I know that all too well, though I devoted much of my time to hiding it._

 _And Weiss, who is almost as cold-hearted as me. And just like me, hers is a facade meant to keep people at bay. That can come in handy, I have learned, but it also came at a cost. Loneliness can kill almost as fast as a poison. A guarded heart can be both a gift and a curse. It protects the individual from pain, while also preventing them from allowing themselves to feel emotion, to form connections._

 _And finally, Ruby, who was every bit as childish as I used. She has a spark of light in her that I wish I had kept. No matter how much adversity she is faced with, she chooses to focus on the good in the world. Even when she is in trouble, she chooses to put the needs of others above her own. That is a quality I admire very much, and one that will bring her very far in life...if it does not get her killed, that is. Take it from someone who knows, selflessness is both a warrior's greatest trait, and thier enemy's greatest advantage._

 _But I do not regret my life, nor do I regret my decision. Death was imminent for me, anyways, whether or not I took a dose of antivenom. However, that does not mean I am free from wishing I had more._

 _I wish I had the option of knowing these girls longer than a few days._

 _I wish I had the chance to go to a proper huntsman academy._

 _I wish I had a longer life...I wish I could live, and continued to guard the village I love, to protect the people I love._

 _A hand grips mine, but my extremities are so numb, I almost cannot feel it._

 _"Victoria." Alfred's voice calls. I open my eyes-merely slits now-and see his careworn, worried face staring back at me. But in his eyes, I see pride...and sadness._

 _"It's okay now." Alfred says. "You can go home now. You don't need to protect us any longer."_

 _I part my numb lips, desperate to say something that has been on my mind since my eyes began to turn green. I want to tell him how much he meant to me over these years. I want to let him know my grattitude. I want to let him know that I loved him like the father I had lost, even though there were many times I did not show it._

 _"Thanks." Is all I can get out. I suppose it is better than nothing. I do wish I that could elaborate. I think he deserves that in the least. They all do._

 _Alfred smiles, and his eyes crinkle-the test of time evident on his face. Something I will never have to worry about._

 _"It was my utmost pleasure to be your guardian." Alfred says, his voice breaking slightly. "I only wish...well, you know what I wish, Little Flower. We've argued over that enough times." He chuckles slightly._

 _I part my lips again, and force out, "Loe...ew." Really, it was all I could muster._

 _There is a pressure on my hand as Alfred says, "I love you, too, Little Flower."_

 _A light appears behind Alfred, where the members of Team RWBY stand. Two figures emerge from the light, one with the figure of a man, one with a woman. They come to my side, and the light-woman puts a hand on my cheek. The man-figure stands by Alfred, puts a hand on his shoulder, before he comes to the light-woman's side._

 _I feel a gentle pull in my chest, like a balloon blowing in the wind, only being held down by its string. My soul, my consciouness, is trying to blow away, and the only thing that's keeping it tied to my body is the slow beating of my heart, and the breaths that are becoming harder and harder to take._

 _"It's time to come home, Victoria." A voice calls, but who is belongs to, I do not know._

 _I still want to obey it, though. But I want to defy it, too._

 _However, I also know that this day has been for a long time._

 _The two figures extent thier arms towards me, and like a little girl, I fall into them, finally allowing myself to be engulfed in an embrace of light._

 **-Yang-**

They had stayed in the village for a few days after Victoria's death. Ruby needed to be sure to get the proper doses of antivenom. Weiss had called Beacon on the village's ham radio (which she was _really_ upset that they hadn't disclosed that information to them in the first place!), thier scrolls having been out of range of a celltower. When Ruby was cleared for travel by the medics, they had sent for an airship from Beacon. Ruby, still too weak to stand, was strapped into a cot when they boarded the airship. Yang rarely left her side, and neither did Weiss, who was fully determined to be the best teammate ever.

When they got back to Beacon, they each had to be debriefed by Ozpin and Goodwitch. Ruby was currently staying in the infirmary while she recovers. The medics were kind enough to send them back with an extra vial of antivenom, just in case she regressed. However, because of the venom's deteriorating properties, part of Ruby's upper arm would forever be marred with discolored skin and veins where the talon of the Brutus had nicked her skin.

Weiss was currently on Ruby Duty...which meant that she'd be entertaining (actually, guarding) Ruby in the infirmary so that the younger girl wouldn't go running off...again.

Blake had become sullen, lost in thought (at least, more than usual), and like a cat, Blake had made herself scarce. So, an hour before curfew, Yang found herself looking for her partner in all the usual places. She wasn't in thier room, wasn't at the library, and wasn't at the cafe in town where she got her favorite tea.

So that just left the roof.

Yang finds Blake on the roof, staring at the stars and shattered moon.

"So, back to being silent and sneaking around, are we?" Yang asked, sitting beside her partner.

"I just wanted to be alone." Blake said, not even bothering to look over at Yang. Her eyes were still transfixed on the shattered moon.

"Great!" Yang said. "So did I. We can be alone together."

Blake sighed. "That's not what I meant, and you know it." Blake sighed again. "Fine, stay if you want. I don't care what you do."

For a few moments, there was only silence between the two friends. Yang became content just staring at the stars, the shattered moon, and wondered if the village of Sternlite was seeing the same view she was looking at right now.

"Do you ever feel it consume your life?" Blake asked.

"What?" Yang furrowed her brow, a little confused at the question.

"Regret." Blake said. "When we were with Victoria, she said she was trying to undo her father's mistake. She said that she was trying to do the right thing, but also that she was trying to make up for the attack in the woods that killed her father. I could tell that her regret for that decision to go to the woods that day was what drove her life. She was trying to make up for something she had no control over. She let that control her life."

Blake sighed, sounding sad. "Meanwhile, _I'm_ regretting decisions that I had knew weren't right. _I_ let myself get dragged into the White Fang. _I_ let Adam convice me that we were doing good when we were only committing terrorism, because that's what I wanted to believe. _I_ went on those missions with him, _I_ knew what we were doing was wrong, and I _still_ did them. I put people that had nothing to do with the White Fang in danger...That...Yang, how could I ever make up for something like that?"

For a while, Yang was silent. How could she not? Blake was trying to process something that had weighed heavily on her heart for years.

"You..." Yang started, wracking her brain for an answer. "Blake, to be honest, I don't really know, but...I think that for every moment you spend wishing how you could have done things differntly, is a moment you've wasted that could've been spent helping yourself." Yang gave Blake a slight grin, before turning her gaze back towards the horizon that Blake had been staring at so intently before, smile falling.

"I've always lived off of the assumption that anything that was broken could be fixed," Yang said seriously, "but I know well enough that's not always how it works. It's like breaking a vase."

"Something tells me that analogy was based off of real life." Blake says dryly.

"Shut up." Yang smirks. "Anyway, when you break a vase, no matter how hard you try to glue it back together, piece by piece, so that no-one notices, well...the deed is done. It's broken, so you can't un-break it. No matter how much glue you use, you can still see the cracks in the pottery, you can still tell that it ws broken. All you can really do is put it back together the best you can, and then tell someone you broke the vase."

"That is a terribly analogy." Blake says.

"Hey, you want poetry, go read one of you books." Yang teased, bumping her partner on the arm. Yang felt herself grow serious again, as an old memory from her time at Signal stirred inside of her.

"When Ruby and I were at Signal", Yang started, "there was this project we had to do. We had to make our own weapons. Sometimes, prototypes didn't work out, and the weapons were scrapped and thrown into a junk pile. I caught Ruby one day in the scademy workshop, combing through the scarp pile, looking for spare parts. I said, 'Ruby, what are you doing? There's perfectly good parts right over there'. But Ruby just smile and told me that even the broken weapons can be repurposed into new things.

"I don't know why, but that one line stuck with me for a long time. I'd like to think that the same thing goes with choices, sometimes. We have every chance to change our minds when we feel we're not doing something right, but every moment we spend wishing we hadn't done something or said something or made _some_ sort of choice, is another moment that we've wasted that we could've spent trying to change it."

Yang looked into Blake's amber eyes as she said, "I...I don't know what you've been through, Blake, and I'm not going to force you to tell me if you're not ready. Just know that when you're ready to tell your story, I'll be ready to listen. We all will." Yang flashed her typical crooked smile as she said, "Team RWBY sticks together, no matter what, right?"

Blake returned Yang's smile with a small one, but it was a smile nonetheless, and Yang was happy for it.

"Right." Blake affirms. "Together, no matter what."

 **THE END**

* * *

 **So...yeah. That's how I chose to end the story. I know some of you might have wanted me to kill Ruby at the last minute (believe me, I thought about it) but I origninally wanted this story to be about the events leading up to RWBY: Volume Three, which (SPOILERS!) Is...on second thought, I'm not going to spoil it. If you know, you know, if you don't, you don't.**

 **Anyway, I wanted to see how what happened in volumes one and two would have affected team RWBY should they have been sent on a hunting mission before thier chance to graduate Beacon. It was something that was on my mind, since we learned that the number of active hunters and huntresses being sent on missions was dwindling...the reasons why, we learn in the later volumes.**

 **Anyway, I'm a huge fan of this show, and absolutely CANNOT WAIT until Volume 7 comes out in OCTOBER!**

 **A huge thank you to those who've read, followed, and commented on this story. Remember, critiques are always welcome (because I'm positive I need it sometimes!) and respected.**

 **And a special thanks to Mary Wolstoncraft Shelley, who's infamous novel _Frankenstein_ was a huge inspiration to this story. **

**And so, before I sign off from this story, I would like to end with some inspiring words from one of my favorite novels:**

 **"It is true, we shall be monsters, cut off from all the world; but on that account we shall be more attached to one another."**

 **-Mary Shelley, _Frankenstein_**


End file.
